Echobelly (acoustic)

Event information

Acoustic Achord are delighted to announce that legendary band, Echobelly, will be playing an acoustic set at Sound Control on Saturday 14th July 2013. After going out as Calm of Zero, the two original members have returned to the name Echobelly.

Echobelly

Sonya Aurora Madan & Glenn Johansson are taking a short break from their
Calm Of Zero project to acoustically perform the songs of the classic
Britpop band they formed: ECHOBELLY.

This special acoustic tour is the result of public demand. Echobelly always
had a loyal fan base and those fans still love them to this day.
They want to hear the songs they love, sung by the voice that sung them.

The most prominent part of Echobelly's successful formula was vocalist Sonya
Madan, who was also the group's primary lyricist. In 1990 she met Glenn
Johansson, a guitarist from Sweden who was pursuing a career in music

In 1993 Madan and Johansson teamed up with bass guitarist Alex Keyser and
drummer Andy Henderson, who had previously played with P J Harvey's band.
Guitarist Debbie Smith, formerly of Curve, came on board in 1994.
According to the Epic Records' website, the group came up with the name
Echobelly from the notion of "being hungry for something". With Madan and
Johansson serving as songwriters, they recorded their debut EP, Bellyache,
on the independent Pandemonium label in late 1993.

The favorable response to Bellyache helped Echobelly secure a recording
contract with Rhythm King, which was then part of Epic. Once on board the
label, the group released the "I Can't Imagine the World Without Me"
single in June 1994. Now featuring the services of bass guitarist James
Harris after Keyser defected due to personal and artistic differences, the
group recorded the Everyone's Got One. This release, which included the
single "Insomniac", reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart.

As their music received more airplay, Echobelly won admiration from other
artists as well. Madonna expressed interest in putting them on her Maverick
label, and R.E.M. requested the group as the opening act for their upcoming
tour. The band returned to the studio in 1995 to create their next album,
On, which proved even more popular than its predecessor. Produced by Shaun
Slade and Paul Kolderie, who had also produced Hole and Radiohead, On was
called "eminently listenable" by Tamara Palmer in Audio.

This album focused on more universal themes, instead of the more politically
and ethically charged subjects of Everyone's Got One.
Madan's lyrics often ventured into the seamy side of life, such as the
milieu of prostitution and homelessness addressed in King of the Kerb.
"I wanted to challenge myself as a lyricist on a different level on this
album," Madan said in Rolling Stone. "I want people to tell me what they
thought the lyrics are about. I'm not a politician. I'm not interested in
changing everybody around me. I'm interested in myself."

While many of the songs lamented the state of things, others on the On album
celebrated the endless possibilities of the human spirit. In "Great Things",
Madan sang "I want to do great things/I don't want to compromise/I want to
know what love is/I want to know everything." The album's mostly optimistic
feel provides an intriguing contrast with its serious subject matter. As
Pareles wrote, "Both music and lyrics examine the tension between order and
liberty". Listeners in the UK responded favorably to the album, driving
three singles from the release into the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart.
Sales of the album rose to over 150,000 in England, nearly double that of
Everyone's Got One.

Health and legal problems interrupted the success of Echobelly in 1995 and
1996. Madan had a serious thyroid problem during her world tour that was
potentially life-threatening, but was later cured. The group also had
disagreements with Rhythm King after the label moved to Arista. The band
chose to stay with Epic. In 1996 Madan also ventured away from the group
when she sang on a recording of the club band, Lithium. Smith left the band
before the release of Lustra, which was issued in November 1997. A single
from the album, "The World is Flat", was released in August of that year.

A four-year hiatus was brought to an end in 2001 when the band returned with
the Digit EP and their fourth album, People Are Expensive, which were
released on their own Fry Up label. Two further singles, "Tell Me Why" and
"Kali Yuga" (a remixed version of the album track) followed.

In 2004 Echobelly released a fifth album - again through their own Fry Up
label, Gravity Pulls.

www.echobelly.com