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Elizabeth Bernholz (Gazelle Twin) (Electronic Music, 2023)Anti Body music video still - by Chris Turner

Elizabeth Bernholz (Gazelle Twin)

Shortlisted in 2023 for Electronic Music

British composer, producer and performer Elizabeth Bernholz conceived the moniker and performance persona Gazelle Twin in 2009, under which she went on to release the critically acclaimed albums; Deep England (2021) with NYX Drone Choir, Pastoral (2018), Kingdom Come (2017), Unflesh (2014) and her debut, The Entire City (2011).

Her vocal-led, experimental electronic music is Influenced by classical, choral and sacred music, as much as pop, industrial, and EDM; her compositions encompass euphoric and haunting choral landscapes, to intense, beat-driven songs. Her work is often rooted in dystopian, emotional themes projected through extraordinary live performances which feature changing, masked or “uncanny” personas, which are often inspired by ancient or unusual anthropological traditions; Unflesh explored teenhood anxiety and body horror, while Kingdom Come, an audio-visual performance piece, depicted a cinematic dystopia inspired by JG Ballard’s final novel. Gazelle Twin’s third studio album, Pastoral, addressed English identity, conjuring English folkloric and sardonic traditions with a punk sensibility.

Gazelle Twin has collaborated frequently as a vocalist with various artists, including John Foxx, DJ Dave Clarke, and Gary Numan, whose album Intruder, co-produced by Ade Fenton, features her voice on 3 songs. She performed live with Gary at Wembley Arena in May 2022 at his first return show at the venue, since 1981. In 2020 she was invited by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to remix the Halsey track, I Am Not a Woman I’m a God, which they produced, presented as part of the official remix package alongside Underworld, Hot Chip and Adrian Sherwood. In 2019 Gazelle Twin worked with Max de Wardener to create an orchestral performance The Power and the Glory with the BBC Concert Orchestra at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, for the New Music Biennial. Later that year she returned to the same venue to present Deep England, a large-scale ensemble A/V performance made with NYX Electronic Drone Choir at London Jazz Festival. The Deep England studio album was released in March 2021 to critical acclaim. In July 2021, together with award-winning Directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard they made the music film Deep England. In October 2022 Somerset House premiered her first ever audio installation, We Wax. We Shall Not Wane featuring the voice of actor, Maxine Peake, which Somerset House commissioned for the critically acclaimed exhibition The Horror Show curated by Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard and Claire Catterall.

Gazelle Twin’s music has been commissioned for Films, Theatre productions, Television series, art installations and video games including; The Walking Dead (AMC), The New Pope (HBO), How To Get Away With Murder (ABC), The Virtues (Channel 4), Prometheus (20th Century Fox). She created the exclusive track History for the video game Cyberpunk 2077, and composed two feature, horror film scores; Nocturne (for ‘Welcome To The Blumhouse’ by Amazon Studios / Blumhouse, 2020), and The Power (Shudder, BFI, 2021) another collaboration with Max de Wardener. She has scored the soundtrack to the upcoming SKY TV Series Then You Run (July 2023).

Gazelle Twin is an ambassador for women in music and inspired the Gazelle Twin Scholarship for Women in Music Technology at the University of Sussex. She frequently presents seminars to students of music/art, and often mentors young composers/producers of all backgrounds. She is currently writing a new album and working on new commissions for 2023 and beyond.