HILARY WOODS is always evolving. When we booked her to play Roadburn 2020, we were well and truly enamoured with her 2018 album, Colt – a dimly lit cocoon of gentle catharsis. The follow up, Birthmarks, arrived two years later, ushering in a darker palette of sounds and moods – a record that accompanied us through many bleak and isolating days. Pushing her own boundaries yet further still, her latest missive, Acts of Light, eschews traditional song structures entirely and instead meanders through field recordings and hypnotic drone.
Acts of Light is best consumed whole – an expansive experience that undulates with organic textures and eerie sounds. We’re anticipating something similarly all-consuming when Hilary (finally!) makes her way to Tilburg and performs at Roadburn where she will be accompanied by Oliver Turvey on violin. Of her belated but much anticipated performance, she tells us:
“I feel very honoured to be playing Roadburn 2024, it’s a very special one.”
Which direction Hilary Woods will go in next is anyone’s guess, but our money is on her remaining a vital creative force long into the future.
– Becky Laverty
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