V
incent Cavanagh has been quietly operating as The Radicant since 2017, but he’s finally gone public with it three years after the dissolution of his old band, Anathema. Debut EP
We Ascend
swaps sweeping, guitar-led rock for textured electronics and glitchy experimentalism, though it’s still recognisable as the work of one of the musicians behind albums such as
We’re Here Because We’re Here
and
Distant Satellites.
But music is just the tip of the artistic iceberg, as Cavanagh reveals.
What is The Radicant? Band? Art project? Something else?
The Radicant is my artistic alias, if you like. From a practical standpoint, it’s the name I use for all of my audio-visual output. It started off as an exploration in composing for different media and technology, which allowed me the freedom to work in different, interdisciplinary techniques that were new to me. And at the moment, it’s a commercial music project because I’m releasing records.
You started The Radicant in 2017, before Anathema split, but you kept it under the radar until now. Why?
I’ve been doing work and collaborations since 2017 that have informed the music I eventually put out. In terms of public appearances, I played live in a south London gallery in 2018 –it was the soundtrack to an AR [augmented reality] piece combined with sculpture and music. I recently did a collaboration with Sarah [Derat, artist and Vincent’s partner/collaborator], which was an audio installation at the Castor Gallery [in north London]. Not everything that I do is going to get released to the public –I guess to fully understand it, you maybe have to come to some of the future exhibitions.