Lamb | |
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Lamb in 2012
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Background information | |
Origin | Manchester, England |
Genres | Electronic |
Years active | 1996–2004, 2009–present |
Labels | Strata Music, Mercury Records, Koch Records |
Associated acts | Lou Rhodes, LOWB |
Website | Official band website |
Members |
Andy Barlow Lou Rhodes |
Lamb are an English electronic music duo from Manchester, whose music is influenced by trip hop, drum and bass and jazz. The duo consists of producer Andy Barlow and singer-songwriter Lou Rhodes. They achieved commercial success with two hit singles "Górecki" and "Gabriel".
On the basis of three songs, Barlow and Rhodes signed a six album deal with Mercury Records in 1995. They released their first album, the self-titled Lamb in September 1996, and followed this up with another three albums and a cache of singles over the next eight years, culminating in the release of a greatest hits album, Best Kept Secrets, in June 2004. While they seemed destined for stardom, it seemed to evade them and during the early 2000s they lost momentum and played live only sporadically. Still, a 2004 tour produced memorable shows. Lamb performed what was billed as their final live appearance at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in September 2004 and after their 2003 album Between Darkness and Wonder both went solo. Rhodes left the music world briefly for a commune, and in 2006 released her first solo album.
Although getting their start in Manchester, Lamb are more commonly associated with the Bristol-based trip hop sound that was popular during the 1990s. Aside from trip hop, their musical style is a distinctive mixture of jazz, dub, breaks and drum and bass, with a strong vocal element and, in their later works especially, some acoustic influences. While they were a hit phenomenon in the UK, they found limited success in other parts of the world, despite securing distribution. Portugal was an exception, however; the band achieved crossover success there, including one major number one hit with "Gabriel," the lead single from 2001's What Sound.