Audible Edge is an international festival of exploratory music, presented by Tone List, that has taken place annually in Boorloo/Perth since 2017. Ahead of its 2025 manifestation (3–6 April), we wanted to share some of the thinking behind the project, and what awaits in this year’s edition.

Last year’s punters often noted that the Audible Edge format isn’t what comes to mind when you think of a music festival. For starters, instead of at a multi-stage, one-field situation that assures the destruction of its resident lawn, the gigs take place at 16 “venues” – in a basement club, a 100-year-old workers’ cottage, a party bus and a stretch of sandbank along the river, as well as a couple of more traditional concert spaces.

Josten Myburgh and Annika Moses at Audible Edge 2024. Photo © Josh Wells Photography

There’s no stage, or if there is, the audience is probably sitting up there to get a good view of the music. The atmosphere of the gigs flows and varies: humming, wiggly, sparkly and growling. On the last day, you might see folks drinking peachy filter coffee and eating pastries, kids playing, and no one...