8: Cicely Balston

Mastering is the final part of the album-making process – where the songs are fine-tuned and all the elements are shaped into a cohesive whole. Cicely Balston is one of the UK’s breakthrough young talents. They’ve worked across leading London studios like Gearbox, Air and now the legendary Abbey Road, with its iconic zebra crossing out front.

Cicely has a hugely varied list of credits and has put their finishing touches to everything from punk to alt-pop to UK jazz, and from up-and-coming bands like Witch Fever to legends like David Bowie's back catalogues, as well as some of the most memorable film soundtracks of the past few years.

Cicely’s ear for detail has been numerous times at the UK’s Music Producers Guild Awards. They won Mastering Engineer of the Year in 2023 and 2025, and also this year, they were part of the team that took home the award for Best Original Score Recording for their work on the very memorable thriller-comedy Saltburn. Cicely’s approach to listening goes way beyond the technical. Their finely-tuned intuition can elevate a track from great to unforgettable.

Studio Radicals is a new podcast series that meets the musical visionaries who are shaping the sounds of today, from leading artists and producers to composers and engineers.

For more information and to see portrait photography, videos and playlists from the series, visit dcsaudio.com/studioradicals and instagram.com/dcsonlythemusic. 

CREDITS
Studio Radicals is co-produced by dCS Audio and host Kate Hutchinson.
Audio production, editing and sound design: Holly Fisher. 
Video: Sophie Fisher.
Theme music: Anna Prior. 
Photography: Olivia Sofia Ferrara.
Video editing: Jess Vincent.
Thanks to: Lucy Launder and Peach Kazen.