A MONUMENTAL EFFORT BY SCULPTURE PARK

LIVE REVIEW | SCULPTURE PARK | NEW RIVER STUDIOS, LONDON 16th April 2025 by Georgina Daniels

By the time Sculpture Park took the stage at New River Studios, the room felt like it had already been through a collective dream. Known more for its hardcore leanings, the Manor House venue was transformed into a more reflective, intricately textured space for this lovingly curated evening by tastemakers Bad Vibrations. What followed was a full album playthrough that was as theatrical and immersive as it was emotionally layered. Their debut album Monument To Effort, was to be the central focus of the South-Londoner four piece’s efforts.

Opener Bumper—a side project from Tom Rogers-Coltman of Tapir!—created a quietly stunning atmosphere with just guitar and tape machine. Across five carefully composed instrumentals, the set hovered between ambient folk and decaying tape-loop nostalgia. Fingerstyle guitar passages were embellished with hissy, warbling layers of melody, pulling the audience into a soft-focus reverie.

Kitty Handley, on next, brought an intimate, disarming shift in energy. Her performance felt lo-fi in the best way: unpolished, honest, full of wit and emotional weight. “This is a song I wrote today so I knew I’d fuck it up,” as she re-started her first song. Her voice carried a kind of upward ache—“it’s too late in the night,” she sang, with a desperation that pulled you forward. At times, the set leaned toward the soulfully raw spirit of Haley Heynderickx or early Joni Mitchell, especially on a track that evoked Woodstock with its wandering keys and soaring vocals.

By contrast, Sculpture Park came in with full-band intensity and a mission: to play their new album front to back. They opened with Run—a Leonard Cohen-style croon riding atop a rolling, off-kilter groove, after an insanely impressive piano solo kicked off the set. A Way built slowly into a woozy, jaunty swirl, while Old Dog introduced a different vocalist, adding bite and urgency with his command to “listen to the old dogs howl”. The shift brought higher-register singing and more attack, with the bass locking in beautifully beneath swooning saxophone arpeggios.

The band didn’t stay still. Instruments were swapped mid-set—bassist and guitarist shaking hands as they traded instruments—while James’ clarinet quietly replaced the saxophone before anyone noticed. In addition, guest sax player Al joined for a mid-set stand-off, prompting someone in the crowd to yell “Kiss!”. It felt like an excellent send-off to one of the band members who would be taking a back seat from the moody world-building of Sculpture Park.

And, this whole time, a papier-mâché mask resembling E.T. sat like the centre piece on top of the guitar amp. How the drummer was able to wear the mask and still drum in the final act of this surrealist theatre will never be figured out.

Musically, Sculpture Park ranged from the atmospheric to the explosive. A slow-burn ballad highlighted the frontman’s range, his mixing voice cracking beautifully in the upper register. The final track Felt, where vocalist Ted’s vocals ripple with the ask to “See yourself staring back”—began with cello mirroring vocals and piano runs that climbed in tandem, before an explosion of crunchy guitar jolting the room to attention. It ended too soon—but maybe that was the point.

“Thanks to everyone for picking us over the Arsenal game”, Ted quipped mid-set, half-chiding absent friends who chose the game instead. Their loss. Sculpture Park delivered a night full of subtle risk, layered emotion, and a rare sense of craft that made even the weirdest moments feel vital.

Sculpture Park didn’t just perform—they unspooled a whimsically serious sound-world that fans of Nick Cave, Talk Talk, King Crimson, and Joe Jackson would dive into headfirst.

Sculpture Park’s debut album Monument to Effort is OUT NOW with very limited vinyl pressings available via bandcamp or can be listened on your preferred streaming service https://linktr.ee/sculptureband too.