During the 1980s, Frith began writing music for dance, film, and theatre, and a number of his solo albums from this time reflect this genre, including "The Technology of Tears (And Other Music for Dance and Theatre)" (1988), "Middle of the Moment" (1995), "Allies (Music for Dance, Volume 2)" (1996), and "Rivers and Tides" (2003). Exploring new forms of composition, Frith also experimented with chance or accidental compositions, often created by building music around "found sounds" and field recordings, examples of which can be found on "Accidental (Music for Dance, Volume 3)" (2002) and "Prints: Snapshots, Postcards, Messages and Miniatures, 1987–2001" (2002).