Feature

Small Round Strangely Furry with Spots Stripes and Other Patterns

Connor D'Netto unveils himself as a synthesist in his new four-track EP, which fuses contemporary classical with experimental electronics.

by Maddy Briggs on 31 January, 2024

In the digital liner notes, Connor D’Netto admits that the title of his new EP is “a little unwieldy”.

It’s a mouthful, certainly, but Small Round Strangely Furry With Spots Stripes and Other Patterns does align perfectly with the complexity of material within, four tracks covering diverse – yet gorgeously coherent – ground.

Its name, drawn from EP’s first track, captures the moment when you can’t quite get to the heart of a concept you’re trying to describe to someone. Its melodic material is variations built from a theme that D’Netto and the performers never let slip.

“I wanted to play with the idea of variations without their theme. Maybe not discrete variations a lá [Elgar’s] Enigma Variations, but more like a piece that’s just the ‘development’ of a sonata, without the exposition,” D’Netto tells Limelight. “That was the challenge to myself, to write the themes of the piece and not use them.”