The Drowned World was a collaboration between myself, Joel from Wet Sounds, and Chris Adam and Andrew Wright of Resonance. Together we transformed Riverside Leisure Centre swimming pool with soundscapes both above the surface and underwater, to produce an immersive audio-visual performance which was equal parts bizarre, magical and astonishing.

Forming part of Essex Book Festival, our composition was inspired by the novel The Drowned World by JG Ballard, which is set in a post-apocalyptic future where due to climate change the city of London has been submerged underwater and the sparsely inhabited world above has turned into a thriving tropical environment.

Our semi-improvised score explored the textures and environments Ballard describes in the book, the baking hot sun of the lagoon and the sludgy city streets of the drained swamp. A fight scene became an industrial techno beat and the ending escape an ethereal stone for the audience to soak in.

Melodies were panned from above the water to below, encouraging the audience to move in and out of the water and explore the different sound worlds we created in each space – each drawing upon narratives from the book.