The Broken Orchestra worked with Freedom Festival Arts Trust for multiple projects during the 2022 Festival, and we were proud to commission them for a new Re:Score project, yet again breathing new life into old film by writing & composing an original modern composition to old archive footage.

An inspiring selection of artists & musicians were invited to score to the footage, creating truly unique soundtrack interpretations. This project was created in partnership with Yorkshire Film Archive, who has for the second time this year, carefully helped The Broken Orchestra select & access footage from our local area. Partnered with the talented band LIFE and Law Holt, who created the lyrics to accompany The Broken Orchestra’s audio experience, Freedom Festival Arts Trust were proud to renew a project, which had gotten such fantastic attention earlier in the year, to Freedom Festival 2022.

 

LIFE: 'A Family Affair' 1960

 

 

Playlisted by BBC 6 Music, Championed by Steve Lamacq and ending up in BBC Radio 1 Albums Of The Year list, punk band LIFE have toured in Europe and America, appeared with kindred spirits Idles, Slaves and Nadine Shah, and played national festivals including Glastonbury. A band born out of two brothers from a ‘very liberal’ upbringing, LIFE’s post punk sound sits perfectly around the brave lyrical content of the problems of living and surviving. Songs about single fatherhood and mental health reflect the sometimes feelings of isolation in the geographical location of the coastal city of Hull.

This Re:Score sees the attention focus onto meaningful and narrative based footage. LIFE have created an original score for 'A Family Affair', a piece of film from the 1960s showing the work of Hull’s Sailors' Children's Society, an important organisation at the heart of working class life amongst the families of fishermen in the city. The legacy of the fishing industry and its subsequent demise has played a major role in the identity of the city to this day.

LAW HOLT: 'SPRINGTIME IN AN ENGLISH VILLAGE' 1944

 

Raised in Leicester and now splitting her time between London and Edinburgh, LAW HOLT has worked and toured with Mercury Music Prize Winners Young Fathers, her work defies categorisation featuring sharp lyrics, eerie vocal techniques, trip hop beats and heavy, punk-inspired production embodying the digital age of music: collaborative and looking to break down barriers, and challenging the old ways of doing things.

Titled ‘Springtime in an English Village 1944’ singer songwriter LAW HOLT composes a new score with Tim London, exploring representations of Black Britain on Film, pre Windrush and attitudes to celebrating Black identities. The film is a unique and rarely seen snapshot of Black British life, interestingly and unusually focusing on a Black girl and her role as May Queen challenging assumptions about rural Britain.