The Necks

Active since 1987 in Sydney, The Necks bring together Chris Abrahams, Tony Buck and Lloyd Swanton in an Australian trio positioned between avant‑garde jazz, free improvisation, minimalism and experimental music. The Necks most often construct long pieces, sometimes approaching an hour, from a simple motif that evolves through micro‑variations, emphasizing repetition, duration, texture and dynamics rather than a theme or solo in the classical sense. In concert, The Necks improvise without a fixed plan, typically with piano, double bass and drums, while studio recordings sometimes broaden the sonic palette and stitch multiple takes into a continuous form. The group's discography ranges from Sex (1989) and Next (1990) to Aquatic (1994), Aether (2001), Drive By (2003), Chemist (2006), Silverwater (2009), Open (2013), Unfold (2017), Body (2018), Three (2020), Travel (2023) and Bleed (2024). Alongside The Necks, its three members have pursued numerous projects within the Australian scene, and the trio has also worked for visual media—notably the soundtrack to The Boys (1998)—while more recently appearing alongside Swans and in Underworld's Drift project.