Mandalay (band)
| Mandalay | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Trip hop |
| Years active | 1995–2002 |
| Labels | V2 Records |
| Past members | Saul Freeman Nicola Hitchcock |
Mandalay was a trip hop duo from the United Kingdom, composed of multi-instrumentalist Saul Freeman (formerly of Thieves) and multi-instrumentalist-composer-singer Nicola Hitchcock. They released two albums (plus one America-only compilation disc) and were briefly tagged as "Madonna's favourite band".
During the early to mid-1990s, Saul Freeman had been the instrument-playing half of the London pop duo Thieves (alongside singer David McAlmont). By the time of their second single, "Unworthy", Thieves were gaining a considerable amount of critical attention and had begun recording a debut album for the Virgin Records imprint Hut Recordings. However, Freeman and McAlmont fell out seriously towards the end of the album sessions. Consequently, Thieves split up, with the album eventually being released in 1994 under McAlmont's name (although Freeman was fully credited for his songwriting and instrumental work). While recovering from the Thieves debacle, Freeman immersed himself in club culture and increased his interest in dance music. In 1995, he and his publishers (Chrysalis Music) put a classified advertisement in Melody Maker in order to find a vocalist for a new project.
The advertisement was answered by Nicola Hitchcock, an established musician, singer-songwriter, who had already released a solo album (A Bowl of Chalk) on F-Beat Records a few years previously. Inspired by the developing trip-hop music scene (spearheaded by Massive Attack and Portishead) she began looking for a producer/musician to form a collaborative project. Naming themselves Mandalay, the duo began to write and circulate demo tapes, displaying emergent songs which blended Hitchcock's emotional honesty and melodic sensibilities with Freeman's textured arrangements (which featured elements of trip-hop, dance smoothness and post-punk avant-garde textures).
Mandalay made their debut on a compilation with an early version of their song "This Life". They were courted by various major labels on the strength of their first demos, but opted instead to sign to David Steele’s independent label Organic Records in 1996. Their first single release, "Flowers Bloom" gained the Single of the Week award in Melody Maker, immediately strengthening their position and leading to a full recording deal with the recently established V2 Music. While Freeman had produced the early recordings, the V2 deal paired Mandalay with producer Guy Sigsworth (ex-Björk, Seal, Acacia) for the recording of their debut album.
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