About this item

ORIGIN is a collective deep-listening experience created by the A Right/Left Project (artists Stephen Dobbie and Colin Nightingale), featuring an original 20-minute soundtrack composed by Stephen, Colin and Toby Young, with lighting design by Ben Donoghue. Exploring themes around the cycle of life and humanity’s connection to nature, the piece originally debuted over the May Day bank holiday weekend in 2024 — a time of year in the UK that traditionally marks the transition from spring to summer. This celebration of new life and renewal provided a fitting moment to share the work publicly, leading to further presentations as part of London Design Festival 2024 and Richmond Arts & Ideas Festival 2025. It also led to a bespoke version being created for the National Trust property Dunham Massey in Cheshire, where it has been experienced by more than 10,000 people since beginning its residency in May 2025.

The overwhelmingly positive response to the work, along with numerous requests for the music to be made available, has led to this limited-edition vinyl release, featuring cover artwork designed by Stephen and inspired by the monolithic sculpture at heart of the installation. In keeping with the cyclical theme at the heart of the project, Colin and Stephen approached James Lavelle to react and respond to the artwork. This became a full-circle moment for all involved, following their earlier collaboration on Beyond The Road — the immersive, walk-through album experience that debuted across the top floor of Saatchi Gallery in 2019 before transferring to Seoul for a six-month run in 2021. At the heart of Beyond The Road was Stephen and Colin responding to the music of UNKLE to create a unique experience. It therefore felt fitting that, this time, James would respond to ORIGIN — finding inspiration in the artwork to create a new piece of music.

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: An expansive, slowly developing wave of ambient washes and modern-classical instrumentation on the first side with a beautifully energised downbeat dancefloor remix on the flip from UNKLE. Beautifully evocative throughout with each piece straddling from one side of the home listening / dancefloor divide.

TRACK LISTING

1. Origin
2. Origin (UNKLE Reconstruction)