Chicane (musician)
Chicane | |
---|---|
Instrument(s) | |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | |
Past members | Leo Elstob[1] |
Website | chicanemusic.com |
Nicholas Bracegirdle (born 28 February 1971), known professionally as Chicane, is an English musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Among his works are
In addition, Bracegirdle also worked with Leo Elstob under the alias Disco Citizens, producing a handful of less radio-friendly, vocal-less tracks with a stronger progressive house sound. Working with singer Vanessa St. James and producer Mr. Joshua, Bracegirdle was part of the Mr. Joshua Presents Espiritu project, known for the song "In Praise of the Sun", released with both English and French vocals. Bracegirdle contributed with executive production on Tomski's "14 Hours to Save the Earth". Nick Bracegirdle has also used the alias, Sitvac, to produce a one-time single, "Wishful Thinking".
Early life
While having trained in classical guitar and piano at an early age, Bracegirdle's earliest influences in electronic music came from melodic composers such as
Career
1996–1998: Initial success and Far from the Maddening Crowds
Bracegirdle's first release was the four track EP Cyanide Music Volume One in 1996.
"
Following these releases, Bracegirdle's debut studio album Far from the Maddening Crowds was released in September 1997. Additional singles that followed were "Lost You Somewhere", the Benelux release "Red Skies", and the non-album single "Strong in Love", for which Bracegirdle used vocals by British singer Sylvia Mason-James (after discovering that she was the vocalist on the Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne remix of "Lemon" by U2)[7] and first collaborated on production with Ray "Madman" Hedges (producer for B*Witched and Boyzone).
1999–2003: Collaborations and Behind the Sun
1999 saw the release of "
After producing a radio remix of
On 27 March 2000, Bracegirdle released his second studio album Behind the Sun. It was certified gold by the BPI, while "Don't Give Up" was certified silver.[15] Two other singles were released from the album—the double A-side "No Ordinary Morning / Halcyon", and "Autumn Tactics"—but neither were as successful as the preceding releases.
In 2002, Bracegirdle co-wrote two songs on Cher's album Living Proof, "You Take It All" and "Alive Again", the latter which was released as a single in Europe only. The 2001 Edition of the EA Sports Formula One Video Game Series included the songs "Sunstroke", "The Drive Home", and a remix of "Nagasaki Badger".
2006–2008: New management and Somersault
Eventually, under the new management of John Cavanagh, April 2006 saw the release of a new single, "Stoned in Love", on Globe Records through Universal Music Group, featuring singer Tom Jones on vocals. (Press Release). At the time of the announcement the song was also played twice by Pete Tong.[16][17]
The track received substantial UK TV promotion in the run up to the week of release, featuring utterly live performances on
In February 2007, Chicane departed from Universal as well; according to the official website, all new material would be released through Modena itself. The follow-up single "Come Tomorrow" was released on 16 July 2007, followed by the third official studio album, Somersault, a week later on 23 July 2007.[18] Bracegirdle has entirely self-financed these initial independent releases, as well as subsequent live performances.[19] On 4 May 2007, the Cicada remix of "Come Tomorrow" was played on Radio 1 by Pete Tong.[20]
On 25 August 2008, Chicane released "Bruised Water" with Natasha Bedingfield. Promotional copies of the track were made available, with remixes from Mischa Daniels and Adam K. Following the leak of his 2003 album, Chicane now employs the international internet policing company, Web Sheriff to prevent links to unlicensed material, such as this single and other tracks from his upcoming album, from being posted on various blogs and websites.[21]
In October 2008, Chicane released a
2009–2010: Giants
Bracegirdle worked with producers James Hockley and Richard Searle on the Re-Work EP for a targeted summer 2009 release, along with a new and fourth Chicane album and mixes of forthcoming productions by
In September, Chicane produced a remix of the classic track "Relax (Don't Do It)" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, which is part of the 25-year anniversary of the seminal track. It was learned that the Re-Work EP was cancelled although no official announcement was ever made in regards to this. Other 'reworked' tracks that were due to appear on the EP were never mentioned from the initial announcement. Recently stated from Chicane Management; there were actually quite a few that people never got to hear. In a June 2010 interview with Impact Magazine, Bracegirdle commented on the 'Re-work EP' issue. "We covered House Arrest and there's a massive bag of legal problems with that record. God knows why. Poppiholla became this complete and utter monster... The best laid plans of mice and men can go completely astray once you have a big record. Things change all the time... the plan was to (release Re-worked) and then the whole thing went completely mental... in a good way."[22]
The first official word on Chicane's fourth studio album, Giants, came in January through his Facebook artist profile. "Come Back", the first single in connection with the new album, is a rework of the Paul Young 1980s hit "Come Back and Stay" and came with a remix by Riley & Durrant. The single was released on 25 April. The same month a new track, "Barefoot", was added to Chicane's website. A laidback, Baleric-style tune, it proved popular with listeners awaiting the new album. This was followed by the track "Titles".
In May, Bracegirdle officially announced the new album through Facebook. He also revealed a new single "
The album and "Middledistancerunner" were released on 2 August 2010. During the first week of release, a new track, called Velo, was given away as a free download via Chicane's website. In November the track "
2011–2015: Thousand Mile Stare and The Sum of Its Parts
An upcoming Chicane single was announced in April through
On 29 July 2011, Chicane revealed a preview of the title track for the then forthcoming artist album
On 13 April 2012, the Dutch label Armada Music announced that they had joined with Chicane's UK record label Modena Records. After having worked together extensively throughout the past four years, with Armada Music releasing Chicane's singles and albums for the Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Poland, Armada will be representing Chicane worldwide in the future.[23]
In July 2012, Chicane collaborated with Ferry Corsten to write and produce a track called "One Thousand Suns", featuring singer Christian Burns, and loosely based on Chicane's "Thousand Mile Stare".
In a 9 December 2012 interview with Eightoctaves.com, Chicane announced that he was working on a new album. He also said in the interview that "There are going to be some pretty stunning collaborations and guest appearances, I hope. I've just been recording in Mumbai with Anushka and that track is going to be stunning."[24]
In 2013, Chicane released "One More Time" which featured the vocals of Duane Harden.
In April 2014, Chicane had a dispute with DJ Mark Knight about his unauthorized sampling of "Saltwater" in Knight's track "The Return of Wolfy".[25]
On 25 May 2014, Chicane released the single "No More I Sleep", featuring the vocals of Senadee.
In the July 2014 issue of the Sun:Sets radio show, Chicane named the title of the upcoming album The Sum of Its Parts. It was released on 25 January 2015. An unconfirmed pre-order listing on iTunes UK showed an early release date (16 November 2014) and a different track list running order. The fourth single from the album is called "Still With Me" and is sung by British artist Bo Bruce. A remix by Andreas Van Hoog was premiered on Forth One Radio. The single was officially released on 26 October 2014.
Chicane released "Oxygen" as a remix EP on 5 July 2015, the fifth single from The Sum of Its Parts. On 2 October 2015, he released two new tracks "Ibiza Strings" and "Ibiza Bleeps" as part his second extended play Ibiza. He released the sixth and final single "Fibreglasses" on 30 October 2015.
2016–2019: Twenty and The Place You Can't Remember, the Place You Can't Forget
On 29 July 2016, Chicane released a compilation album titled Twenty as a celebration of his twentieth anniversary in the music industry. The album was preceded by the lead single "Carry Me Home" (a rework of the song of the same name by Gloworm) featuring the vocals of Steve Edwards; released on 3 June 2016.
Twenty features Chicane's
On 16 February 2018, Chicane released a mix compilation album titled Sun:Sets 2018 (Selected by Chicane).[27][28]
In 2018, Chicane announced his seventh studio album on his weekly Sun:Sets podcast. The album The Place You Can't Remember, the Place You Can't Forget was released on 8 June 2018. It includes the singles "Gorecki" (originally written & performed by Lou Rhodes and the band Lamb) and "Serendipity" featuring Tracy Ackerman.[29]
In 2019, Chicane released the follow-up to the original Sun:Sets compilation with the album titled Sun:Sets 2019 (Selected by Chicane).[30]
2020–present: Everything We Had to Leave Behind
In May 2020, Chicane released Behind The Sun (2020 Anniversary Mixes), featuring new mixes and remixes from other artists of the original tracks from the 2000 album.[31]
On 23 April 2021, Chicane released his eighth studio album, titled Everything We Had to Leave Behind.[32]
On 9 June 2023, Chicane released his ninth studio album, titled Nevertheless.[33]
Also in 2023, on 1 December, Chicane released The Greatest Misses, a sixteen-track compilation featuring songs created by Chicane that, despite earning critical acclaim and fan approval, failed to achieve chart-topping success.[34]
Musical style
Style
Bracegirdle describes his music as being strongly influenced by the relaxed, summer atmosphere of Ibiza, where he was taken on holidays as a child.[35] In an interview in 2012, Bracegirdle stated that he does not draw inspiration from dance music; but from film soundtracks and musicians like Brian Eno and Trevor Horn.[36] He wrote "I have a lot of time for producers like myself, BT, Eric Prydz, but as I said, they are not really an influence upon me. It's artists such as Vangelis that inspired me many years back".[36]
His first two studio albums, along with Giants – the fourth studio album – are known for atmospheric, ambient melodies and shifting moods and tempos, particularly Far from the Maddening Crowds, which has been called "a soundtrack for an average day".[37]
Bracegirdle's career took a turn following the release of
Bracegirdle's dance music productions have caused him to be incorrectly identified as a
Far from the Maddening Crowds and Behind the Sun were both primarily recorded at Chicane's personal recording studio, Modena One (sharing the name of his own record label),[3] located at his parents' house.[4] Co-producers who worked on these albums are Leo Elstob, Salt Tank, Ray "Madman" Hedges, and Martin Brannigan. Tomski was commissioned to program the opening tracks ("Early" and "Overture") on both albums and contributed snippets and sounds to other tracks. However, Bracegirdle has stated that he works alone when in his own studio.[4] Recently, references to a studio called "Modena 2" have appeared in liner notes since the April 2006 release of the "Stoned in Love" single.[44]
With the April 2011 premiere of the Chicane single "Going Deep" Bracegirdle stressed his own statement, that 'Chicane music is not bound by a certain genre'. 'Going Deep' is certainly a new turn in the sound as it is a blend of 90s retro disco, rap in a modern house, trance package.[citation needed]
Live
Chicane also performs live shows as a full-fledged band, which has included a rotating line-up of singers, guitarists, drummers, and flautists, as well as Bracegirdle himself on keyboards.[12] Justine Suissa, who provided vocals on "Autumn Tactics" from Behind the Sun, toured with the band in 2000.[45] English electronic producer Tom Jankiewicz (Tomski) was a frequent musical collaborator with Chicane from 1995 to 2006, and he also played keyboards and engineered in the band during that period.[46] Session drummers in the band, notably, have included Mark Pusey (Eminem, Natasha Bedingfield, Sway), Shovell from M People, Simon Merry (Natalie Imbruglia) and David Barbarossa from Bow Wow Wow.[47]
The band's current line-up since 2006 consists of the following musicians:
- Nick Bracegirdle (Chicane) – keyboards, programming
- Natasha Andrews, Kristin Hosein or Jaki Graham – vocals
- Simon Small – guitars
- Carl Holt – bass
- Mark Pusey (2005–present) – drums
- Simon Merry – drums (2009–present)
Though the band's singers usually substitute for the original vocalists from the song due to the latter's other recording commitments, there have been exceptions; for example, both Maire Brennan[4] and Bryan Adams performed live with the band in Ibiza in 2000. The former took place at one of the annual Ibiza festivals held by MTV at the turn of the 2000s,[12] while the latter took place at a heavily promoted concert hosted by Xtravaganza on 4 August at Privilege Ibiza, which was attended by over 7000, including Bono and Noel Gallagher.[13]
Chicane has also played at major European music festivals, such as the Glastonbury Festival and Creamfields in England[35] and the Roskilde Festival in Denmark;[48] as well as Red Square in Moscow.[49]
Chicane has performed remixes (specifically, the "Tomski vs. Disco Citizens" remixes) live, as shown by a track listing from Chicane's 22 January 2000 performance at the Palladium in Cologne, Germany.[50] This is unusual in that remixes, as products of audio editing, are not generally considered instrumental performances in their own right. At least some aspects of this are credited to Tomski himself, on stage.[46]
Bracegirdle also made a guest appearance live with Bryan Adams at the 2000
Discography
Studio albums
- Far from the Maddening Crowds (1997)
- Behind the Sun (2000)
- Somersault (2007)
- Giants (2010)
- Thousand Mile Stare (2012)
- The Sum of Its Parts (2015)
- The Place You Can't Remember, the Place You Can't Forget (2018)
- Everything We Had to Leave Behind (2021)
- Nevertheless(2023)
References
- ^ Palladev, George. "Chicane – Far from the Maddening Crowds. Story behind the Balearic album". Medium. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
- ^ Alexander, Will. "Chicane – Far From The Maddening Crowds". TranceCritic.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
- ^ a b Tracks: Nick Bracegirdle: Recording Chicane's "Don't Give Up". (May 2000). Sound on Sound. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ a b c d Tierney, Paul. Chicane. Top Magazine (retrieved from the Internet Archive). April 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ^ "Chicane – Cyanide Music Volume One". Discogs.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Chicane – Offshore Ep #1". Discogs.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b Interview with BBC Radio 1[permanent dead link]. (1998). Chicane.cc. Retrieved 7 April 2006.
- ^ a b Chicane biography. Chicane.cc (Retrieved from the Internet Archive). Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ a b c Editorial – Chicane Archived 11 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine. (May 2000). Urbnet.com. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Artist Chart History – Chicane. Billboard.com. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Offshore. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ a b c Interview with BBC Radio 1 Archived 16 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. (February 2000). Chicane.cc. Retrieved 7 April 2006.
- ^ a b Gill, Alexandra. Bryan Adams, king of rave? Archived 14 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Globe Interactive. 22 August 2000. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ^ Zywietz, Tobias. Chart Log UK: Oliver Cheatham – Convert. (22 March 2005). Chart Log UK. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Zywietz, Tobias. Chart Log UK: M – The Mars Volta. (22 March 2005). Chart Log UK. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ BBC Radio 1 – Pete Tong – Tracklisting, 24 February 2006. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ^ BBC Radio 1 – Pete Tong – Tracklisting, 10 March 2006. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ^ "Chicane launches 'Somersault' album, his first new one in 7 years". Side-line.com. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Smith, Gary (13 July 2007). "Chicane Takes Self-Financed Route Back To Stardom". Billboard. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
- ^ BBC Radio 1 – Pete Tong – Tracklisting, 4 May 2007. BBC Radio 1. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
- ^ Sinclair, David (7 August 2007). "Frontier lawmen". independent.ie. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ 'Classic' Chicane taking new directions Impact Magazine, University of Nottingham, 6 June 2010
- ^ "Modena Records joins forces with". Armada Music. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ Interview with Chicane. Eightoctaves.com. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
- ^ Chicane: “Mark Knight has Sampled ‘Saltwater’ Without My Permission”. TranceFixxed.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "Chicane Announces '20' Album for July Release – News – MN2S".
- ^ "Chicane release 'SUN:SETS 2018' compilation: From The Beach To The Dance Floor". Armada Music. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Exclusive interview: Chicane discusses new Sun:Sets 2018 compilation album". We Rave You. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Chicane Sun:Sets, Vol. 192". iTunes. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ Mavraganis, Panos (23 April 2019). "Various Selected By Chicane – Sun:Sets 2019". Viralbpm. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ Smith, Christopher (8 May 2020). "Review: Behind The Sun 2020 Anniversary Remixes - Chicane - Talk About Pop Music". Talk About Pop Music. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
- ^ "Chicane drops new album, 'Everything We Had to Leave Behind': Listen". DJ Mag. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Chicane releases new album, 'Nevertheless': Listen". DJ Mag. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Chicane releases 'The Greatest Misses' album, highlighting unappreciated gems: Listen". We Rave You. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ a b Shepherd, Stephanie. Samplings – Chicane – Carries Ibiza Sound Across the Pond Archived 29 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine. DJ Times. September 2000. Retrieved 29 March 2006.
- ^ a b "INTERVIEW with Nick Bracegirdle AKA Chicane". Fluxbpmonline. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Far from the Maddening Crowds review. AllMusic. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ "Chicane – Sound of the Sunset". Dotmusic (retrieved from Chicane.cc). March 2000. Archived from the original on 21 November 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
- ^ "Biography". Manifesto Records. Archived from the original on 14 August 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2006.
- ^ "Chicane Interview". Ministry of Sound. 18 April 2006. Archived from the original on 25 April 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2006.
- ^ King, Steve (25 September 1997). "Straight from the Heart". Daily Mirror. p. 18.
- ^ Histen, Michael (3 September 2000). "DJs have it". Portland Press Herald. pp. 5E.
- ^ Sole, Kate (20 July 2007). "Chicane shine on". BANG Media International. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
- ^ "Chicane – Stoned in Love". Discogs. Retrieved 11 May 2006.
- ^ Justinesuissa.co.uk Archived 2 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 March 2006.
- ^ a b "T o m s k i m u s i C". Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2006.. Tomskimusic.com. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Amos, Chris. Chicane's Nick Bracegirdle Archived 10 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Bent.com. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Almind, Christian. Chicane. Roskilde Festival 2003 interviews. 26 November 2003. Retrieved 30 March 2006.
- ^ Chicane biography Archived 19 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Chicanemusic.com. Retrieved 30 March 2006.
- ^ Bootlegs: Live at Palladium, Cologne, 22 January 2000 Archived 18 March 2005 at the Wayback Machine. (24 August 2004). Chicane-Web. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
- ^ Live at Slane Castle DVD credits Archived 6 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Bryanadams.com. Retrieved 17 March 2006.
External links
- Chicane at IMDb
- Official website
- VK-community
- Chicane's channel on YouTube
- Official Bebo Page
- Review of Live Performance at Ministry of Sound (2013) by TranceFixxed Archived 5 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Chicane biography at MN2S Booking Agency