Tara Clerkin Trio

Tara Clerkin Trio formed in Bristol (where none of them are from, yet all are deeply ingrained) in 2020. Despite the singular authority implied by its name, they consist of the titular Tara Clerkin, her partner Sunny Joe Paradisos, and Sunny’s brother, Patrick Benjamin. With two mini-albums – In Spring (2021) and On The Turning Ground (2023) – released on London’s World of Echo label in the wake of their self-titled 2020 debut, this upcoming Somewhere Good LP is the band’s latest work. In running their usual gauntlet of idiosyncratic (an overused adjective for which here there is regrettably no sufficient alternative) approaches, Clerkin & Co. color in and outside of compositional lines over the course of 40+ minutes, never wallowing, despite inherently somber subject matters of self-defeat, disease, displacement, restlessness, and gentrification, allowing their arrangements and improvisations ample space and time to situate, stretch out, breathe, and cross-pollinate.

There are elements of avant-pop, modern classical, kraut-folk, audio vérité, and nods to trip hop, but Tara Clerkin Trio tend to transcend easy categorisation. This show is part of a two-day residency at the ICA.