Under the moniker of August Cooke, London-based cellist, singer and composer George Cooke will release his debut single this Friday (May 12th), the unusually titled Flying Swimming Dredging based around the premise of “if our planet was radically different, would our principles remain?”
Alongside his keening, masterful cello line and crescendos, a choir soon joins him in song, featuring pupils of the West London Free School who sing their hearts out:
How to smelt this mountain of gold
How to frame this ocean of joy
How to still this arrow of fate
When we’re we’re winning
When we’re living?
Just as they add emotional weight, Mumbai-based multi-instrumentalist Shirish Malhotra (Zakir Hussain, Symphony Orchestra of India) adds tension through clarinet and saxophones. Described as a lush hymn of hope, musically, it’s like a cross between Arthur Russell and Tom Rosenthal, and that’s no bad thing.
Flying Swimming Dredging is available on all streaming platforms this Friday.
Flying Swimming Dredging was produced by Felix Higginbottom (Low Island, Bill Laurance, TEED) and mixed by Tom Archer (Little Simz, Slowthai) with guitars from Tom McCredie (Rob Luft, Corrie Dick). Cooke was trained as a cellist and completed his undergraduate degree in music at St Peter’s College, Oxford University, in 2013. In 2015 he completed a post-graduate degree in Musical Performance from the Royal College of Music. Alongside this formal training, he formed and toured with his band Marvellous Medicine. He was mentored by luminaries including Philip Sheppard (music director for London 2012) and Zoe Martlew (BBC Maestro), as well as collaborating with Hindustani musicians Anuraag Dhoundeyal and Deepa Nair Rasiya and tutelage in Kolkata with his sarangi-playing ustad, Sarwar Hussain.
With such an array of influences, I’m looking forward to hearing more.
Bandcamp: https://augustcooke.bandcamp.com/