Digital streaming of the album and limited-edition cassettes are now available to buy here.

‘Replaying the Tape’ is a collaboration between women practitioners: New-York based composer Dr Jane Boxall, palaeontologist Dr Frankie Dunn (University of Oxford), and poet Penny Boxall. Our new piece, incorporating voice, live percussion and tape track, considers the role of chance in evolution, and conjures an imaginary menagerie of animals which might have existed had the dice-throw of evolution fallen differently. Jane has composed new music for tape and live percussion, which Penny’s poetry both complements and spars with. The tape aspect includes field recordings from Frankie’s research trips, tape manipulation of found sounds, and altered samples from the poetry itself.

Music and poetry bring the remote closer; this project enables adults and children to have an emotional response to an abstract area of science. We imagine, through words and sound, animals which have never been, but could have existed, while inviting our audience to consider what role chance plays in our own existence. ‘Replaying the Tape’ premiered in New York in November 2023, supported by MATA Presents and the Drusilla Harvey Access Fund (Society of Authors), with further performances planned in the UK and Europe in 2024 and beyond.

A selection from the performance, including an introductory talk from Frankie Dunn, is here.