Poppy Ackroyd Album ‘Liminal’ out June 5th via One Little Independent Records

Poppy Ackroyd   Album ‘Liminal’ out June 5th via One Little Independent Records   Single ‘Shimmer’ out now   Smartlink Spotify Youtube

“Wonderful” – The New York Times   “Poppy Ackroyd can conjure whole worlds of sound out of the barest essentials” – Stereogum   “On par with neo-classical giants Nils Frahm, Max Richter and Hauschka” – MOJO   Acclaimed composer and pianist Poppy Ackroyd returns with ‘Liminal’, her intimate new album released June 5th via One Little Independent Records. Written and recorded during a period of profound upheaval and transition, it marks a return to the core of Ackroyd’s practice, bringing piano and violin back together.   For the first time since 2018’s ‘Resolve’, Ackroyd reunites these two instruments exclusively, with every sound on the album drawn from piano and violin alone. Melody, harmony, rhythm and texture are all extracted from the physical bodies of the instruments themselves, from bowed and plucked strings to percussive elements. The return of the violin is central to the album’s expressive power. Having not played it extensively for several years, Ackroyd found the experience of layering string parts unexpectedly moving.   New single ‘Shimmer’ is built around interlocking piano patterns that ripple and evolve, with subtle shifts in timing and emphasis. As the track unfolds, delicate plucked piano string motifs and layered violin lines emerge, adding warmth and depth without disrupting its underlying momentum. There is a lightness to the composition that feels instinctive, carrying with it a sense of optimism within the album’s broader emotional landscape.   ‘Liminal’ was written unusually quickly for Ackroyd, composed over a three-month period in which the core structures and musical ideas were laid out. Recording took place shortly after, once she had moved into a new studio space. Piano and violin improvisations were captured alongside scored material, then carefully edited over time. This process of sifting through improvisations to find small, human moments has always been part of Ackroyd’s approach, but here she chose to leave more of the raw material intact, preserving its cathartic qualities.   “In the last three years everyone I loved most in the world needed me, all at once,” she explains. “There has been new life and death, heartbreak and many other things that are not my stories to tell. I have also moved across the country to a part of the world I have never lived in before.”   Although the album emerged from an exceptionally difficult time in her life, it is guided by a quiet sense of resolve. Ackroyd describes listening to the album while running and feeling herself almost dancing along to it, discovering a joy that was not always present while writing. “I had such a chaotic few years, but the only way to cope was to allow things to be messy,” she says. “Embracing the messy and imperfect but still getting things done. I decided to apply this approach to my music making and I found that I still maintain the same attention to detail but without the pressure, and I fell in love with making music again in a whole new way.”   The album was created in close proximity to nature, another first for Ackroyd. Her studio now sits within her home, backing onto ancient woodland. This environment subtly permeates the record, particularly in the quieter tracks where space and resonance play a central role. The cover artwork reflects this setting; a photograph taken by Ackroyd from her studio window on Christmas morning, showing mist hanging in the valley beyond.   As with her previous releases, Ackroyd wrote, performed, recorded, mixed, and produced the album herself, with mastering by Matouš Godík and layout and design by Ruth Keating. Ackroyd has long taken an active role in shaping the visual identity of her records, designing, or creating the artwork for most of her releases. With ‘Liminal’, she contributes a cover photograph for the first time.   “There is this amazing feeling you get when you play with another musician that you know really really well, but when you are playing alongside yourself it’s quite powerful,” she explains. “With the violin you have control over the whole length of the note in a way that you don’t when you’re playing piano. It feels like you can say more. Like singing.”   That wider world continues to resonate through her work. Ackroyd’s music has featured in countless documentaries and dance productions, including with New York City Ballet, and in theatre, where the National Theatre used ‘The Calm Before’ as the opening music for The Seagull. Her collaboration with Ainslie Henderson, Shackle, won Best British Film at the London International Animation Festival.   In 2025, Ackroyd released ‘Notes On Water’, a collaborative project completed during her father Norman Ackroyd’s final months and released shortly after his passing. The work combined Ackroyd’s music with her father’s final etching and served as both a tribute and a means of processing loss through shared creative language.   At its heart, ‘Liminal’ is about endurance and transformation. “There’s a euphoric feeling after doing something you’re scared of,” Ackroyd reflects. “I feel like I’ve been broken in a way I never thought I could be, but I’m also stronger than I ever thought I could be.”   Art credit: Ruth Keating & Poppy Ackroyd   Photo credit: Nikita Laganovskis   Track list   In The Mist Shimmer Continuum For Those Who Wait The Unknown Drift Weightless Between Two Worlds   Music credits   All tracks written, performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Poppy Ackroyd Mastering by Matouš Godík   Live dates   8th June - UK, Norwich - NAC 10th June - UK, London - Grand Junction 11th June - UK, Manchester - St. Michaels 17th June - IE, Dublin - Pavilion Theatre    Follow Poppy Ackroyd   Website Facebook Instagram X Spotify