Lower Marsh by John Butcher in duos with Angharad Davies, John Edwards, Mark Sanders and Pat Thomas

released September 12, 2024

The record can be considered a sort of farewell note to one of London’s most crucial venues for improvised music and sound art after its unexpected closure in late 2023 due to gentrification.

Butcher had previously collaborated with these three musicians in different contexts, but Unlockings documents a first-of-its-kind quartet line-up.

»I wanted a new combination, but made of players I’d worked with over the years,« says Butcher. »Choosing is probably 75 % about the player and 25 % about the instrument—trying to imagine how it might work sonically, but also setting up a situation that is able to surprise everyone, that takes everyone beyond their personal ideas. I’m still always slightly amazed how individual approaches interact and entwine in a collaborative improvisation.«

Kristoffer Patrick Cornils


John Butcher tenor and soprano saxophones
Angharad Davies violin
John Edwards double bass
Mark Sanders percussion
Pat Thomas electronics


tracks 1, 4 & 5 recorded by Dave Hunt at Iklectik/London on 5 April 2022

tacks 2 & 3 recorded by Jeff Ardon at Iklectik/London in February 2022

edited and mixed by John Butcher
Mastered by Andreas LUPO Lubich at Loop-O Mastering

all music by Butcher/Davies/Edwards/Sanders/Thomas

liner notes by Clive Bell
artwork by Yaqin Si
letterpress by Die Lettertypen, Berlin


nvnc-lp046