- Album list
- Singer Intro
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. The original members were singer Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie, and bassist Will Heggie, who was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde in 1983. The group has earned much critical praise for its distinctive ethereal sound and the distinctive soprano vocals of Fraser, which often abandoned recognizable language altogether. They were associated with the UK label 4AD for much of their career.
Solo work
The former members of Cocteau Twins have remained active musically in the years since the band's demise. In addition to forming Bella Union, Guthrie and Raymonde have produced releases from new bands signed to that label.
Raymonde released the solo album Blame Someone Else as the first release on Bella Union. He also co-produced the posthumous album by Billy Mackenzie from the Associates, then went on to produce several Domino Records artists like James Yorkston, Archie Bronson Outfit (whom he later managed) and Clearlake. More recently he has produced the UK band The Duke Spirit, London-based duo Helene, former Golden Virgins frontman Lucas Renney and has mixed the Mercury Prize nominated album The End of History by Fionn Regan. In his role running Bella Union, he has discovered such artists as Laura Veirs, Fleet Foxes, Midlake, Lift to Experience, The Low Anthem, I Break Horses, The Czars and John Grant. The label is renowned for its long-term relationships with its artists, such as Beach House who have released all four of their albums with Bella Union, as have Dirty Three, Midlake etc. Raymonde picked up the Independent Record Company of the Year award at the Music Week Awards (as voted by UK independent retailers) in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
Guthrie has released five solo albums – Imperial, Continental, Carousel, Emeralds and Fortune – and five EPs. He toured extensively with his band Violet Indiana, which included ex-Cocteau's guitarist Mitsuo Tate in the line-up. He has also scored the music for three movies—Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin (in collaboration with Harold Budd), Mexican/Spanish movie 3:19, and worked again with Gregg Araki and Harold Budd on the score and the soundtrack of White Bird in a Blizzard. He has also reunited with Budd to collaborate on two companion CDs, Before the Day Breaks and After the Night Falls, and the later Bordeaux and Winter Garden, the latter a collaboration also with Italian electronica artist Eraldo Bernocchi. In 2006, Guthrie produced three songs on Mahogany's 'Connectivity,' on which Lucy Belle Guthrie made her singing debut. He most recently produced and played guitar on Apollo Heights debut album, White Music for Black People.
Fraser provided guest vocals on The Future Sound of London's single 'Lifeforms' (1993), vocals for three songs on Massive Attack's Mezzanine in 1998 (as well as touring with them several times), and for other musical projects and groups. Notably, she wrote the lyrics and sang the vocals for 'Teardrop' which was released as a single in 1998 and reached number 10 in the UK singles chart It has been speculated that she has been working on a solo album, though details of this are as yet unavailable. Fraser provided the vocals for 'Lament for Gandalf' in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. In 2000 she sang with Peter Gabriel on Ovo (The Millennium Show). In 2005, she worked with Breton musician Yann Tiersen on two songs for his album Les retrouvailles. In 2009, she released the single 'Moses' on Rough Trade.
Members
Elizabeth Fraser – vocals (1979–97)
Robin Guthrie – guitars, bass, drum machine (1979–97)
Will Heggie – bass (1979–83)
Simon Raymonde – bass, guitars, piano (1983–97)
Discography
Main article: Cocteau Twins discography
Garlands (1982)
Head over Heels (1983)
Treasure (1984)
Victorialand (1986)
The Moon and the Melodies (1986) (in collaboration with Harold Budd)
Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
Four-Calendar Café (1993)
Milk & Kisses (1996)
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