Join us to celebrate the launch of cellist, improviser, and poet Simone Seales's debut studio album Dearest.

The work will be performed live by Simone Seales (cello and vocals) and Mele Broomes (spoken word and vocals), along with live visuals created by Guri Bosh using artwork by Christian Noelle Charles.

Dearest merch (CDs, vinyl, zines, and posters) will be available for purchase.

About the album:

Simone Seales’s debut studio album Dearest is a poetry-music album inspired by the warmth, nostalgia, and tension of queer first love. Reflecting on a memory of the sunrise, Seales wrote Dearest as a way of honouring and releasing their first relationship from a decade ago.

While the album is grounded by the poetry, written by Seales and performed by Mele Broomes, the emotional weight is carried by the voice of the cello. Seales pulls sounds out of it which are rooted in classical technique and blended with the jarring groans, wails, and scratches of free improvisation.

A key inspiration for the album is Patricia Highsmith’s Carol and the movie adaptation by Todd Haynes - two works which showed Simone that queer love can be sensual, soft, and heartbreaking. Each track title is an excerpt from the letter which Carol leaves to Therese.

Having spent many years avoiding warm memories of their first love, Dearest acts as a vessel of multiple truths: love can be beautiful, it can leave behind scars, and it will all be okay.

About Simone Seales:

Originally from Florida, Simone Seales is a Glasgow-based cellist and performance artist. They focus on free improvisation, live looping, poetry, and devising music for theatre. Through their collaborative and creative process, they prioritize play, silliness, and connection.

Simone is passionate about exploring sound, how sound can reflect emotional states of being and how emotions are embodied. Their creative influences come from Black feminist leaders such as Audre Lorde, Assata Shakur and bell hooks. Within Simone's creative work, they centre Blackness, sexuality, intersectional feminism and anti-racism. They believe Western Classical musicians are capable of making meaningful social change.

About Mele Broomes:

Mele Broomes (she/her) is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, renowned for her performances that blend dance, sound, and striking poetics.Incorporating vocals and melodies, Mele transforms performance into a hybrid of theatre and live music. Her experimental, layered, and emotive vocals amplify both the emotional and physical dimensions of her storytelling. As the founder of Body Remedy and co-founder of Project X Dance, two Community Interest Companies focused on professional development, Mele has spent the past decade establishing Black and POC-led organisations. She leads both creatively and strategically, contributing to the wider cultural sector in Scotland.

About the space:

Listen Gallery is a dry venue. Please do not bring any alcohol onto the premises. There will be food provided on a first come, first serve basis.