Lawrence English

He and Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu have an ongoing collaboration named Hexa.

• Background — person • Name — Lawrence English • Born — 2 July 1976 • Birthplace — Brisbane, Queensland, Australia • Education — Queensland University of Technology (BA, MA, PhD) • Occupation — * Composer • artist • curator • Years Active — 2004–present • Label — * Important • Room40 • Website — lawrenceenglish.com

English's music is recognised as exploring "environmental and musical sources and is highly regarded for its intelligent invocation of perception, memory and space". On his 2014 album Wilderness of Mirrors, he outlines his approach to composition "For me it's about a kind of struggle between almost nothing and almost everything. Sometimes one sound can be too much and other times 50 layers seems lacking in the depth you want to convey. I think at the heart of this question is dynamics, and I feel that's very much what this album is about. It's a slow reveal, I want it to be a seduction." He cites childhood experiences birdwatching for reed warbler with his father as the starting point for his interest in sound in space. He has stated, "If you just looked in the reeds you'd see nothing. If you listened you got an idea of space and a sense of where it might be, then you understood it. That's probably my first experience with these ideas of space and sound, which are basically the fundamental building blocks of what I've been interested in since then." These experiences have led to a long engagement with field recordings, and more recently the development of theoretical approaches to the practice including his Relational Listening theory. He also released Cruel Optimism (2017) and Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds (2025).

• Title — Details • Transit — * Release date: 2004 * Label: Cajid Media (cajid 003CD) • Happiness Will Befall — * Release date: 2005 * Label: Crónica (Crónica 022) • Autumn — * Release date: 2005 * Label: Autumn Records (leaf 022) • Plateau (with Ai Yamamoto) — * Release date: 2007 * Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 007) • Merola Shoulders (with Domenico Sciajno) — * Release date: 2007 * Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 008) • For Varying Degrees of Winter — * Release date: 2007 * Label: Baskaru (KARU7) • Kiri No Oto — * Release date: 2008 * Label: Touch (Tone 31) • Studies for Stradbroke — * Release date: 2008 * Label: Winds Measure (wm11) • Euphonia (with Tom Hall) — * Release date: 2008 * Label: Presto!? (P!?003) • U (with Tujiko Noriko & John Chantler) — * Release date: 2008 * Label: Room40 (RM435) • HB (with Francisco López) — * Release date: January 2009 * Label: Baskaru (KARU:13) • A Colour for Autumn — * Release date: 2009 * Label: 12k (12K1052) • It's Up to Us to Live — * Release date: 2009 * Label: Sirr (SIRR 0032) • A Path Less Travelled (with Minamo) — * Release date: 2010 * Label: Room40 (RM427) • And the Lived in — * Release date: 2012 * Label: Room40 (DRM420) • Songs of the Living — * Release date: 2012 * Label: Room40 (DRM420) • For / Not for John Cage — * Release date: 2012 * Label: Line (LINE_058) • Lonely Women's Club — * Release date: 2013 * Label: Important Records (IMPREC367) • Suikinkutsu No Katawara Ni — * Release date: 2013 * Label: Winds Measure Recordings (wm35) • Wilderness of Mirrors — * Release date: 2014 * Label: Room40 (RM460) • A Path Less Travelled (with Stephen Vitiello) — * Release date: November 2014 * Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings (der009) • Shadow of the Monolith (with Werner Dafeldecker) — * Release date: November 2014 * Label: Holotype Editions (HOLO2) • Approaching Nothing — * Release date: 2016 * Label: Baskaru (karu:40) • Cruel Optimism — * Release date: 2017 * Label: Room40 (RM470) • Immediate Horizon (with Alessandro Cortini) — * Release date: 2018 * Label: Important Records (IMPREC466) • Selva Oscura (with William Basinski) — * Release date: 2018 * Label: Temporary Residence Limited (TRR312) • Lassitude — * Release date: 2020 * Label: Room40 (RM401) • Field Recordings from the Zone — * Release date: 2020 * Label: Boomkat Editions (BKEDITDS011) • Observation of Breath — * Release date: September 2021 * Label: Hallow Ground (HG2103) • Viento — * Release date: 8 April 2022 * Label: Room40 (RM4190) • Eternal Stalker (with Merzbow) — * Release date: 3 June 2022 * Label: Dais Records (DAIS192) • Colours of Air (with Loscil) — * Release date: 3 February 2023 * Label: Kranky (KRANK236) • Chthonic — * Release date: 11 August 2023 • Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds — * Release date: 31 January 2025 * Label: Room40 (RM4245) • Trinity (with Stephen Vitiello) — *Release date: 21 November 2025 * Label: American Dreams Records (85ADR)