Considering its fourth iteration has been delayed for over two years, the Organ Reframed festival feels uniquely pre-ordained. Although Islington’s Union Chapel regularly hosts folk, rock and prog acts – Opeth, Goblin and Wardruna having played here in past years – its centrepiece rarely gets much of an airing. Boasting over 2,000 pipes, its organ was built back in the late 19th century, specifically for the venue’s spectacular scale and acoustics, and for two nights once more it’s host to a range of artists, commissioned and curated by Scottish experimental organist Claire M Singer, all willing to take the instrument to new levels of brain-rewiring grandeur.

Anna von Hausswolff might be the main draw on the opening night, but hers is the second of three pieces that form a greater whole. Composer Ipek Gorgun is sadly absent due to cancer treatment, so her electronic score forms the backing for organist James McVinnie, who’s tucked out of sight behind the stage’s ornate pulpit. He’s fronted by a violinist and cellist as they embark on an avant-garde journey that ranges from tentatively sparring strings through jarring, dissonant parps that sound like the human/alien signalling sequence from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind in an extended philosophical discussion with an industrial/ambient coda. The organ is a rich yet spectral presence throughout, disassociating but immersive too, taking you deep into the realms of the unfamiliar.