Mandalay

Mandalay was a trip hop duo from the United Kingdom, composed of multi-instrumentalist Saul Freeman (formerly of Thieves) and singer Nicola Hitchcock. They released two albums (plus one America-only compilation disc) and were briefly tagged as "Madonna's favourite band".

History

Initial history

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, a former folk singer who had released a solo album (A Bowl Of Chalk) on F-Beat Records a few years previously but had also had experience playing as a backing singer and keyboard player in various bands. She had recently become inspired by the developing trip-hop music scene (spearheaded by Massive Attack and Portishead), and was interested in the more dance-related approach suggested by Freeman. Naming themselves Mandalay, the duo began to write and circulate demo tapes, displaying emergent songs which blended Hitchcock's interest in singer-songwriter material and psychological/psychotherapeutic concepts with Freeman's textured arrangements (which featured elements of trip-hop, dance smoothness and post-punk avant-garde textures).

Early releases and Empathy

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-Bjork, Seal, Acacia) for the recording of their debut album.

The first Mandalay release on V2 was a re-recorded single version of "This Life", released in 1997. This was followed in 1998 by a re-recorded "Flowers Bloom", which trailed the release of the debut album Empathy (featuring appearances by Sigsworth and Jon Hassell). The album came to the attention of Madonna, who became a big fan and declared Mandalay to be her favorite band. She chose "This Life" to be featured on the soundtrack for her film, The Next Best Thing, and the track would also appear on the soundtrack to the British film This Year's Love. (Many other Mandalay songs have been featured on TV series' including La Femme Nikita, Six Feet Under, CSI: and CSI Miami.)

"Beautiful" (and success in chillout world)

The third single from Empathy - "Beautiful" - appeared on a number of chillout albums of the time including Cafe del Mar (Vol 6) and Hed Kandi's Serve Chilled. As a result Mandalay were invited to headline at the Café del Mar 20th anniversary celebrations in Ibiza in 2000. A sunset remix of "Beautiful" was recorded and mixed by Lenny Ibizarre, the leading chillout DJ/musician on the island. The song went on to be used in a major advertising campaign by Estee Lauder and was chosen for the title track of German film Der Eisbar. In 2003 "Beautiful" was covered by Sarah Brightman and released as the lead single for her hit album Harem.

Instinct and Solace

Mandalay's second album Instinct was released in 2000 and co-produced with Andy Bradfield (Everything But the Girl, Future Sound of London, Björk) and Yoad Nevo (Jem). MK from The Guardian states, "Instinct draws inspiration from jazz and classical music to create resolutely elegant, affecting pop .... lush and expansive, Instinct's musical world is perfectly realised."

The first single from this album, "Deep Love", was remixed by Nitin Sawhney - Mandalay went on to support Sawhney on his UK/London dates. Performances at Ibiza's chillout festivals followed including "Las Dallias" and "Dreamdaze" culminating in a headline performance at The Big Chill festival in the UK.

In order to consolidate their position in the United States (where they were known mostly by hearsay and association), Mandalay released an America-only compilation album called Solace in 2001. This comprised a mix of tracks from Empathy and Instinct (both previously unavailable in the US) and was packaged with an 11 track remix album with contributions from Wagon Christ, Alex Reece and Charlie May. Solace sold more than 44,000 copies in the US, and the band made a brief tour to promote it.

Split (and post-split)

Although the band was on the brink of an American breakthrough, Mandalay ended in 2002 when Hitchcock and Freeman parted ways shortly after the release of Solace, due to artistic and personal differences. Hitchcock has hinted that one of the main reasons for the split may have been her frustration at Freeman's tendency to control the music production, which in turn blocked her input. She has, however, also confessed to missing her musical relationship with Freeman since the breakup of Mandalay.

Hitchcock went on to collaborate with a number of other artists (many of the results of which appeared on her 2005 album Passive Aggressive) and is currently working on her next solo album. Freeman went on to pursue a career in film and event music, which he had already begun with his work on the score for the 2001 film Far From China.

Discography

Solace (2001)

Disc 1

1. Not Seventeen
2. Like Her
3. Beautiful
4. Deep Love
5. It's Enough Now
6. This Life
7. Flowers Bloom
8. Enough Love
9. Don't Invent Me
10. Insensible
11. Kissing The Day
12. Believe
13. I Don't Want The Night To End

Disc 2

1. Beautiful (12in Canny Mix)
2. Not Seventeen (Attica Blues Remix)
3. This Life (Cevin Fisher Dub)
4. Beautiful (Lenny's Sunset Mix)
5. Deep Love (Charlie May Remix)
6. This Life (Wagon Christ Mix)
7. Flowers Bloom (Alex Reece Remix)
8. Deep Love (Nitin Sawhney Remix)
9. Not Seventeen (Futureshock Alt. Mix)
10. This Life (Boymerang Remix)
11. Beautiful (Calderone After Hour Mix)

Instinct (2000)

1. Not Seventeen
2. Don't Invent Me
3. Like Her
4. Deep Love
5. No Reality
6. You Forget
7. Simple Things
8. Too Much Room
9. What If I
10. It's Enough Now
11. Believe
12. Not Seventeen [Only Child Remix]
13. Not Seventeen [Tom Middleton Cosmos Mix]
14. Deep Love [Charlie May Remix]

Empathy (1998)

1. This Life
2. Flowers Bloom
3. Insensible
4. Another
5. Enough Love
6. All My Sins
7. Opposites
8. This Time Last Year
9. Kissing The Day
10. Beautiful
11. About You
12. Beautiful [Canny Mix]

Miscellanea

• Some songs from their 1998 release Empathy were illegally repackaged by an unknown producer as Pearl, supposedly a new release by the band Portishead.
• Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) was a producer and provided instrumentation on the "Flowers Bloom" remix.
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation used two of their songs: "I Don't Want The Night To End" was played in the episode "You've Got Male" (Season 2, Episode 12) and "Like Her" was used in the episode "Play with Fire" (Season 3, Episode 22).
• Madonna reportedly was quoted naming Mandalay as her all-time favorite band. This mention was displayed on a sticker on the Solace CD in the US, encouraging sales.

External links

• Nicola Hitchcock - the voice of Mandalay
• Solace album review
• The War Against Silence review of Mandalay bootleg album Impermanence