Lawrence English

Lawrence English (born 1976) is an Australian composer, artist, and curator from Brisbane. His work is broadly concerned with the politics of perception, specifically he is interested in the nature of listening, and sounds' capability to occupy the body. He is the director of the imprint Room40, which was founded in 2000. He and Jamie Stewart from Xiu Xiu have an ongoing collaboration named Hexa.

Sound works English's music is recognised as exploring "environmental and musical sources and is highly regarded for its intelligent invocation of perception, memory and space". On his 2014 album Wilderness of Mirrors, he outlines his approach to composition "For me it's about a kind of struggle between almost nothing and almost everything. Sometimes one sound can be too much and other times 50 layers seems lacking in the depth you want to convey. I think at the heart of this question is dynamics, and I feel that's very much what this album is about. It's a slow reveal, I want it to be a seduction."

He cites childhood experiences birdwatching for reed warbler with his father as the starting point for his interest in sound in space. He has stated, "If you just looked in the reeds you'd see nothing. If you listened you got an idea of space and a sense of where it might be, then you understood it. That's probably my first experience with these ideas of space and sound, which are basically the fundamental building blocks of what I've been interested in since then." These experiences have led to a long engagement with field recordings, and more recently the development of theoretical approaches to the practice including his Relational Listening theory.

He also released Cruel Optimism (2017) and Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds (2025).

Discography Studio albums Title Details Transit Release date: 2004 Label: Cajid Media (cajid 003CD) Happiness Will Befall Release date: 2005 Label: Crónica (Crónica 022) Autumn Release date: 2005 Label: Autumn Records (leaf 022) Plateau (with Ai Yamamoto) Release date: 2007 Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 007) Merola Shoulders (with Domenico Sciajno) Release date: 2007 Label: Phono-Statique Records (P-S 008) For Varying Degrees of Winter Release date: 2007 Label: Baskaru (KARU7) Kiri No Oto Release date: 2008 Label: Touch (Tone 31) Studies for Stradbroke Release date: 2008 Label: Winds Measure (wm11) Euphonia (with Tom Hall) Release date: 2008 Label: Presto!? (P!?003) U (with Tujiko Noriko & John Chantler) Release date: 2008 Label: Room40 (RM435) HB (with Francisco López) Release date: January 2009 Label: Baskaru (KARU:13) A Colour for Autumn Release date: 2009 Label: 12k (12K1052) It's Up to Us to Live Release date: 2009 Label: Sirr (SIRR 0032) A Path Less Travelled (with Minamo) Release date: 2010 Label: Room40 (RM427) And the Lived in Release date: 2012 Label: Room40 (DRM420) Songs of the Living Release date: 2012 Label: Room40 (DRM420) For / Not for John Cage Release date: 2012 Label: Line (LINE_058) Lonely Women's Club Release date: 2013 Label: Important Records (IMPREC367) Suikinkutsu No Katawara Ni Release date: 2013 Label: Winds Measure Recordings (wm35) Wilderness of Mirrors Release date: 2014 Label: Room40 (RM460) A Path Less Travelled (with Stephen Vitiello) Release date: November 2014 Label: Dragon's Eye Recordings (der009) Shadow of the Monolith (with Werner Dafeldecker) Release date: November 2014 Label: Holotype Editions (HOLO2) Approaching Nothing Release date: 2016 Label: Baskaru (karu:40) Cruel Optimism Release date: 2017 Label: Room40 (RM470) Immediate Horizon (with Alessandro Cortini) Release date: 2018 Label: Important Records (IMPREC466) Selva Oscura (with William Basinski) Release date: 2018 Label: Temporary Residence Limited (TRR312) Lassitude Release date: 2020 Label: Room40 (RM401) Field Recordings from the Zone Release date: 2020 Label: Boomkat Editions (BKEDITDS011) Observation of Breath Release date: September 2021 Label: Hallow Ground (HG2103) Viento Release date: 8 April 2022 Label: Room40 (RM4190) Eternal Stalker (with Merzbow) Release date: 3 June 2022 Label: Dais Records (DAIS192) Colours of Air (with Loscil) Release date: 3 February 2023 Label: Kranky (KRANK236) Chthonic Release date: 11 August 2023 Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds Release date: 31 January 2025 Label: Room40 (RM4245) Trinity (with Stephen Vitiello)Release date: 21 November 2025 Label: American Dreams Records (85ADR)

Awards Queensland Music Awards The Queensland Music Awards (previously known as Q Song Awards) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.

(wins only) 2008 "Watching It Unfold" Electronic song of the Year