Vincent Cavanagh has been quietly operating as The Radicant since 2017, but he’s finally gone public with it three years after the dissolution of his old band, Anathema. Debut EP We Ascend swaps sweeping, guitar-led rock for textured electronics and glitchy experimentalism – although it’s still recognisable as the work of one of the musicians behind albums such as We’re Here Because We’re Here and Distant Satellites. As Cavanagh tells Prog, music is just the tip of the artistic iceberg.
What is The Radicant? Band? Art project? Something else?
The Radicant is my artistic alias, if you like. From a practical standpoint, it’s the name I use for all of my audio-visual output. It started off as an exploration in composing for different media and technology, which allowed me the freedom to work in different, interdisciplinary techniques that were new to me. And at the moment, it’s a commercial music project because I’m releasing records.
You started The Radicant in 2017, before Anathema split, but you kept it under the radar until now. Why?
I’ve been doing work and collaborations since 2017 that have informed the music I eventually put out. In terms of public appearances, I played live in a south London gallery in 2018 – it was the soundtrack to an augmented reality piece combined with sculpture and music.
I recently did a collaboration with Sarah [Derat, artist and Vincent’s partner/collaborator], which was an audio installation at the Castor Gallery in north London.
Not everything that I do is going to get released to the public – I guess to fully understand it, you maybe have to come to some of the future exhibitions.
What is a ‘radicant’?
It’s a name that was given to me by a friend of ours, an art curator. She described this shift into composition in different media and artistic disciplines as “a radicant move.” ‘Radicant’ itself is a botanical term – it describes organisms that create new roots as they advance, which means they can adapt and grow.
An art curator/critic called Nicolas Bourriaud wrote a book with the same name, and he discussed how individuals and cultures are constantly uprooted and in flux all the time. He used it as a metaphor for how artists can see themselves in a more connected world – there’s no single route that you come from; your origins are always multiple.
Anathema ended in 2021, during Covid. What happened?
I chose to leave. The truth is that it had been in the post for a very long time. I’d come to the realisation that I had no other way forward with it, and that I had to set off on my own, as tough a decision as it was.
I felt a huge amount of responsibility for everyone else and the legacy and history of the band – but it was time for me to focus on myself, this project, my plans with Sarah. It was a very difficult, painful, sad time for everyone.
Anathema were a band. This is just you. Liberating or scary?
It’s scary in any walk of life to leave something that’s all you’ve ever known and to take that leap into the unknown. But the actual work itself is completely liberating. I’m able to produce work that there’s no way I would have had any kind of freedom to do in Anathema. People presume the lead singer is responsible for writing the music and is the leader of the band, and none of that was ever true in Anathema. I just fell into it and kept it going.
People presume the lead singer is writing the music and is the leader of the band – none of that was true in Anathema
But now I have the freedom to authentically be myself and put something across that’s exactly how I wish to be perceived, as opposed to being the guy fronting that band with the leather jacket and the guitar. In all honesty, that wasn’t me.
You scrapped a whole album as The Radicant. Why?
This was in 2021. I had the whole thing written. I’d recorded drums with [Anathema’s] Daniel Cardoso in 2019 and I’d recorded the vocals. There weren’t many guitars on it, but it felt like a continuation of what I’d done previously; it was a bit too ‘rock’-ish. I was, like, “I’m not sure this is the right move.” So I scrapped it. Then I met [French co-producer/mixer] Ténèbre and started working with him. I passed him a song and that became We Ascend. I knew it was going to work right away.
There are no guitars on the new EP. Why not? You are a guitarist, after all.
I don’t think I’ve played guitar at home for years. I can’t even remember the last time I did it. I’ve got guitars right in front of me in my studio, but I never reach for them. I don’t know why that is. I’m a guitarist, but maybe I just got bored of it.
You’re working on a full-length album. How does it move things on from the EP?
I think it’s going to be more upbeat. A lot of the tracks on the EP are a slow-burn; they build. The album is a bit more immediate in certain parts. It’ll have clues and callbacks within the tracks, and also callbacks to the EP – people will hear something and say, “Where does that come from?”
If I’m asked to DJ somewhere I can do it, or if there’s a traditional gig I can have as many musicians as I like
But I grew up listening to albums that were designed to be listened to in one sitting – The Beatles, Pink Floyd. The EP is constructed like that, and the album will be the same. Not necessarily a narrative, but something that’s connected musically and emotionally.
Are you going to be playing live?
Yeah. I want it to be a modular setup; if I’m asked to DJ somewhere I can do it, or if there’s a traditional gig I can have as many musicians as I like – even six or seven. But I’d absolutely love to play or tour with a band.
I’ve got an amazing drummer, Ben Brown from [London jazz-experimentalists] Waaju and Charlie Cawood playing upright bass; I’ve got Amy Woods, the classical soprano, who sings on the EP; and Sarah is a brilliant singer, too – she sings on the EP and the album. It feels like anything is possible.
