IN THE ROUND: ALABASTER DEPLUME

London-based saxophonist, singer, composer and poet Alabaster DePlume brings a special residency to the ICA: Both Sides.

With a fresh band curated per night, he gathers an international cast of improvisers, guest vocalists and collaborators around questions of responsive action, mutual support and the role of creativity in dismantling oppression.

Across a series of evenings, guest vocalists will be supported and answered with fresh interpretations of DePlume’s compositions, while each night opens with a musically accompanied invocation from a renowned political speaker. Equal parts concert, gathering and provocation, Both Sides continues DePlume’s ongoing practice of using music as a space for courage, vulnerability and collective possibility.

Drawing from folk, punk, jazz, electronic music and indie, DePlume creates experimental pop that feels emotional, joyful and intensely alive. His breakthrough came with To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1 (2020), followed by the critically acclaimed Gold: Go Forward In The Courage Of Your Love (2022), Come With Fierce Grace (2024), A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole (2025), and this year’s companion Epilogue release.