Dome by Lara Jones

‘Dome’ is the forthcoming sound design project by London-based experimental producer, saxophonist, lyricist and DJ Lara Jones, released on limited cassette

Known for creating upbeat, dance driven tunes, this album is a reminder that saxophone and improvisation is often at the core of Lara's work. Composed as a 45 min piece, split over two sides of a limited cassette, side A ebbs and flows like a synthesized tidal pull, winding and meandering through your subconscious. While side B offers glimpses of delicate, yet pleasingly disparate rhythms sitting gleefully atop snapshots of restful field recordings, like Burial post-anger management, all before giving way to a transcendent final epilogue, leaving us cleansed both sonically and spiritually. 

After being commissioned by the Jerwood Arts Jazz Encounters Fellowship programme, Lara wanted to create an accessible, immersive, cinematic audio visual experience by building a 5m geodesic dome, inside which would play sounds and visuals composed and created by herself, and also surrounded by soft furnishing and essential oils to create a calming experience, where people could pause, breathe and reflect. The installation was presented at both the Manchester Jazz Festival and Leeds Jazz Festivals and also in the respective city's train stations. 

Lara says:
"After presenting the dome twice I found that the relaxation aspect of the dome was what people loved the most and particularly by those who are neurodivergent and kids. Some of the people closest to me are neurodivergent and my son also one night suggested that I write an album that would help him get to sleep. All this inspired me to develop the dome into a space that was designed specifically for those with neurodivergence and also to enhance and augment the relaxation element of the dome." 

The culmination of which is Jones's heavenly new album ‘Dome’. Based on specific frequencies and panning techniques that aim to relax the listener, combined with a subtly diminishing BPM count throughout the album, the end objective is decreased heart rate through increased tranquility. The full audio immersive installation will be presented at the  St. Enoch Centre  in Glasgow from  19th - 29th September 2024,  between  10:00-19:00.

Lara Jones is a London based experimental producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and lyricist, that creates high energy pulsating electronics and jazz harmonies that weave into electronic grime and a web of arpeggiated synths, basses and glitchy beats in Ableton Live. 
Jones’ work has undergone an organic evolution across her EPs, with her latest set distilling her dizzying mix of accessible and avant-garde sounds with edgy, powerful production. From the haunting poignancy of her darkly ambient debut EP, 'Ensó', via the crunching industrial grime of 'Flow', with its flickering gritty textures, to the warm eroticism and enticing dance grooves of 'Fig', Lara Jones refuses to be boxed in by genres or gender definitions. 

As a queer artist, Lara uses her work to explore queer narratives and experiences whilst opening up conversations on gender, stereotypes, queer fashion and queer identity. She also uses her music as a platform to address political issues and social injustices. 

This has all garnered her support from established music media outlets such as  BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, BBC Radio 3, DJ Mag, Electronic Sound, The Wire  and many more. In addition to this she was  Jerwood Arts Jazz Encounter Fellow  2020-2022  and recipient of  Help Musician’s UK’s Peter Whittingham  Jazz Award 2021  and  PRSF Women Make Music Award 2024.

Composer / Producer / Saxophonist / Keys / DJ /

larajonesmusic.com