THE iconic Grade II listed hydraulic tower at Wirral Waters will be the setting for a four-day immersive audio experience created by American composer Kali Malone next week.

The installation, titled Does Spring Hide Its Joy, is taking place at the historic tower and engine house in Birkenhead from this Thursday to Sunday, as part of Abandon Normal Devices (AND) Festival 2021.

AND Festival is a seven-week programme of site-specific installations and events presented on and along the industrial waterways of Manchester Ship Canal and River Mersey, and online.

Events will take place in a variety of unusual spaces and venues including boats, waterways and old industrial sites.

Kali Malone's Does Spring Hide Its Joy is described as "an immersive, multichannel sound experience within the deep listening environment of the hydraulic tower", featuring musicians Stephen O’Malley and Lucy Railton.

The piece was recorded in the empty Berlin Funkhaus & Monom during the lockdown of spring 2020.

The hydraulic tower at Peel L&P's Wirral Waters was originally designed by engineer Jesse Hartley.

It is based on the Palazzo Vecchio, a renaissance cavern in Florence, Italy, which was bombed during World War II.

The iconic nineteenth-century Grade-II listed building has been left unused for decades.

Richard Mawdsley, Peel L&P's director of development at Wirral Waters, said: "The hydraulic tower and engine house is an incredible asset of Wirral Waters and is set to become the £23m Maritime Knowledge Hub.

"It is an internationally-recognised facility for marine engineering research, entrepreneurship and offshore survival training."

Mr Mawdsley continued: "It is an incredible space and will provide the perfect setting for this musical composition by artist Kali Malone which will showcase and celebrate our industrial heritage in Birkenhead.

"We are proud to host this event and to support AND Festival 2021, which champions experimental art in unexpected locations."

Visitors will be invited into the main hall of the building to listen, walk, sit, and be immersed in the vibrations of the durational audio installation.

This work is a durational piece, lasting six hours in total.

Your ticket is valid for any time within your chosen two-hour window.

Walk up tickets will also be available on the door, although booking is recommended in advance.

Please bring your own face mask. There will be hand washing / sanitising stations around the site.

Kali Malone, born in Colorado, is an American-Swedish musician and composer based between Stockholm and Paris.

The 27-year-old’s compositions “implement specific tuning systems in minimalist structure for pipe organ, choir, chamber music ensembles, and electro-acoustic formats”.

Kali’s music is described as “rich with harmonic texture through synthetic and acoustic instrumentation in repetitive motions and extended durations.

“The music emits distinct emotive and affective hues which bring forth a stunning depth of focus.

Kali has performed extensively in Europe and North America at Musica Festival, Berlin Atonal, Moogfest, Kanal Pompidou, Intonal, Presences Electroniques, Le Guess Who, the Meakusma Festival, and Sonic Acts.

Her commission projects and residencies include the Ina GRM, Berlin Monom & Funkhaus, The Richard Thomas Foundation, MACBA, Macadam Ensemble, In 2016 she co-founded the record label and concert series XKatedral, together with Maria W Horn, in Stockholm.

nTickets for Does Spring Hide Its Joy at the hydraulic hydraulic tower are from andfestival.org. uk/events/does-spring-hide-itsjoy/