2025 has been a great year for Australian talent, especially here in the NT! In celebration of Australian musician’s taking on the world, this week’s Feature Album is Belle Chen‘s Ravel in the Forest, a musical journey through nature. Better yet, as 8CCC takes its Summer break, we’re including all the versions Chen has added since the 2024 album release, including her EP An Evening on Köpenicker Straße released in November. The evening in question took place at an experimental music recording studio (Morphine Raum) hidden away in an industrial estate on Köpenicker Straße.
“There is something magical and indescribable that often happens during my live performances. Moments where a collective synergy with the audience can be felt in the room. This EP captures some of these precious moments in a live performance in Berlin, at an experimental venue hidden away under the facade of an industrial estate on Köpenicker Straße, where I journeyed into an imaginative forest alongside my Berlin listeners for the very first time.”
Her Amrap bio cites: “Chen’s transient childhood in Taiwan and Australia has shaped her long-term relationship with music. A blending of eastern and western cultures have set Chen up on a continual search for her own identity and belonging, a journey she lives openly through her music.
“London-based [from 2024], Chen is a pianist and composer whose unique approach in blurring the lines between classical and electronic music has been recognised by industry heavyweights.”
Ravel in the Forest is “an evocative celebration of the forests’ colourful ecosystems and the humankind’s distinctive capacity to imagine.”
“What sets Chen’s music apart is a quirky yet tender approach to musical storytelling. With influences of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Joe Hisaishi’s melodic sweetness shining through, Chen also blends sonically bold synth explorations and free flowing improvisations that could feel equally at home on jazz or experimental stages.”
In the midst of all the recording and performing and tour planning, Belle quietly announced the birth of her child on Facebook, at the end of August. Described by Brian Eno as “original and provocative… feels like the sense of discovery”, Chen will be touring ‘Ravel In The Forest’ throughout Europe and the UK from March 2026. If you can’t get there, check her music out on Bandcamp or your favourite ways of streaming!