Amber Coffman

Last updated
Amber Coffman
Dirty Projectors 2008.05.31 011.jpg
Coffman in 2008
Background information
Birth nameAmber Dawn Coffman
Born (1984-06-15) June 15, 1984 (age 40)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
Genres Indie rock, art pop, R&B, [1] experimental
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active2005–present
Labels Columbia Records
Formerly of Dirty Projectors, Sleeping People

Amber Dawn Coffman (born June 15, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California, formerly based in Brooklyn, New York. She was formerly a guitarist for Sleeping People, and was later a guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors. She released her debut studio album as a solo artist, City of No Reply in June 2017. [2]

Contents

Early life

Coffman grew up in Ohio, Texas, and California and attended 11 different schools. [3] She had an early love of the women in R&B in the 1990s, and became interested in rock as a teenager. [3]

Music career

As a teenager living in San Diego, Coffman worked at a grocery store as a day job and was a guitarist in an instrumental math rock band called Sleeping People. [3] [4]

Coffman performing with Dirty Projectors. Sydney Opera House, 2013 Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors in 2013.jpg
Coffman performing with Dirty Projectors. Sydney Opera House, 2013

Dirty Projectors

Coffman moved to New York [4] at 22 and joined Dirty Projectors on guitar and vocals, [3] beginning with the band's 2006 tour for Rise Above . [5] She continued with the band through Bitte Orca (2009), the Björk collaboration Mount Wittenberg Orca (2010, inspired by Coffman sighting a family of Orcas off the coast of California), [6] Swing Lo Magellan (2012) and the EP About to Die (2012).

Dee Lockett, in New York Magazine , said Coffman's "soft, silky voice stood out on the band’s biggest songs, like 'Stillness Is the Move'" from Bitte Orca. [7] Describing Coffman's influence on the band's sound, Erik Adams wrote in the A.V. Club:

Amber Coffman made the avant-garde almost mistakable for Top 40. Coffman’s melismatic lead on "Stillness Is The Move" was a breakout moment for the Brooklyn band, and in harmony with Angel Deradoorian and Haley Dekle, she formed a vocal powerhouse that could either provide a radio-friendly counterpoint to David Longstreth's Arthur Russell-esque bleats or urge songs like "Useful Chamber" and "Gun Has No Trigger" deeper into alien territory. [8]

Solo work

While in the band, Coffman also continued to create her own demos. [3] She began writing an album in 2011 [9] and released City of No Reply , her first solo album, on June 2, 2017. [2]

Other collaborations

Coffman has also collaborated with electronic artist Rusko on the 2010 track "Hold On" [10] and with Diplo of Major Lazer on the 2012 track "Get Free". [11] In 2013, she was featured on hip hop artist J. Cole's song "She Knows" from his album Born Sinner . [12] In 2012, she collaborated on "No Regrets" with Snoop Lion and T.I. [13] She also collaborated with rapper Riff Raff on a song called "Cool It Down" on his Neon Icon album. She sang on Frank Ocean's song "Nikes", [3] the lead single from his album Blonde. [14]

Discography

Sleeping People

Dirty Projectors

Solo

Album

Singles

  • "All to Myself" (2016)
  • "No Coffee" (2017)
  • "Nobody Knows" (2017)
TitleYearPeak chart positionsCertificationsAlbum
BEL (Vl)
[15]
BEL (Wa)
[16]
DEN
[17]
FRA
[18]
NL
[19]
UK
[20]
"Hold On" [10]
(Rusko featuring Amber Coffman)
2010718896 O.M.G.!
"Get Free"
(Major Lazer featuring Amber Coffman)
20123172959756 Free the Universe
"No Regrets"
(Snoop Lion featuring T.I. & Amber Coffman)
2012 Reincarnated
"She Knows"
(J. Cole featuring Amber Coffman & Cults)
201368 Born Sinner
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Björk discography</span>

The discography of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk consists of eleven studio albums, two soundtrack albums, one compilation album, six remix albums, seven live albums, four box sets, three collaboration albums, forty-five singles, ten promotional singles and eight remixes series.

Sleeping People is an instrumental rock band from San Diego, California that formed in early 2002. They first started playing live at the end of that year as a trio consisting of Joileah Concepcion (guitar), Kasey Boekholt (guitar) and Brandon Relf (drums), with bassist Kenseth Thibideau joining the group in 2003. In 2005, the band released their self-titled debut album through Temporary Residence records. Around that same time, guitarist Concepcion left the band due to relocation, and her friend Amber Coffman replaced her on guitar. With Coffman, the band wrote and recorded three tracks that appeared on their second album, Growing. In early 2007, Concepcion returned to her former position while Coffman departed to join the Dirty Projectors, and the original lineup resumed. The style of instrumental rock they play is sometimes referred to as math rock, which is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures, stop/start dynamics and angular, dissonant riffs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirty Projectors</span> American rock group

Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's current line-up consists of Longstreth, alongside Mike Daniel Johnson (drums), Maia Friedman, Felicia Douglass and Kristin Slipp.

<i>Rise Above</i> (Dirty Projectors album) 2007 studio album by Dirty Projectors

Rise Above is an album by indie rock band Dirty Projectors, released on September 11, 2007. The album was band leader David Longstreth's reinterpretation of Black Flag album Damaged from memory having not heard it in 15 years. The album features Longstreth on guitar and vocals, Amber Coffman on vocals and guitar, Brian McOmber on drums, Nat Baldwin on bass, and Susanna Waiche on vocals. Angel Deradoorian would join the band shortly before the Rise Above tour on bass and vocals. This album is the first that presents Dirty Projectors as a fully realized band rather than an individual project of Longstreth.

<i>Bitte Orca</i> 2009 album by Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Dirty Projectors, released on June 9, 2009, by Domino Recording Company. The word "bitte" is a German word for "please", and "orca" is another name for a killer whale. Frontman David Longstreth states that he liked the way the words sounded together. Longstreth notes that the music contained within the album "felt very [much] about colors, and their interaction," and that the music was written with the notion of the band, as a whole, in mind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angel Deradoorian</span> American musician

Angel Deradoorian, also known mononymously as Deradoorian, is a musician based in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her work with Dirty Projectors as full-time member from 2007 to 2012. She left to pursue a solo career. In 2015 she released a solo studio album, The Expanding Flower Planet.

<i>Mount Wittenberg Orca</i> 2010 EP by Björk and Dirty Projectors

Mount Wittenberg Orca is an EP by American indie rock band Dirty Projectors and Icelandic singer and songwriter Björk, released on June 30, 2010, in digital-only format and on CD and vinyl by Domino Records on 24 October 2011. News of the album was announced on Björk's official website on 26 June 2010, four days before its release.

<i>Swing Lo Magellan</i> 2012 studio album by Dirty Projectors

Swing Lo Magellan is the sixth studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, which was released on Domino Records on July 10, 2012 in the United States and July 9, 2012 internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Get Free (Major Lazer song)</span> 2012 single by Major Lazer featuring Amber Coffman

"Get Free" is a song by musical project Major Lazer from their second studio album Free the Universe (2013). The song was released as a digital download on May 18, 2012. The song features vocals from American singer and musician Amber Coffman.

<i>Free the Universe</i> 2013 studio album by Major Lazer

Free the Universe is the second full-length studio album released by Major Lazer. The album was released on April 16, 2013, and features appearances by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman, Santigold, Peaches, Tyga, Flux Pavilion, Bruno Mars, Wyclef Jean, Shaggy, and more. The album peaked at No. 34 in both the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart. It is a follow-up to their 2009 debut Guns Don't Kill People... Lazers Do (2009)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Longstreth</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1981)

David Longstreth is an American singer and songwriter. He is the lead singer and guitarist for the band Dirty Projectors.

<i>MFANS</i> 2016 studio album by John Cale

M:FANS is the sixteenth solo studio album by Welsh musician and composer John Cale. It was released in January 2016 on the Double Six Records imprint of Domino Recording Company. Produced by Cale, it features new versions of songs from his 1982 album Music for a New Society. "Close Watch" was the album's lead single. It was released in November 2015 and features Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors.

<i>Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep</i> 2010 remix album by Diplo

Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep is a DJ mix compilation album by American dubstep musician Diplo. It was released on November 2, 2010 on Diplo's own label Mad Decent in the United States, and the following year as an import in the United Kingdom. It features multiple artists performing alongside Diplo, including Rusko, Benga, Zomby, Joker & Ginz, and James Blake, on some of the tracks.

"Nikes" is a song recorded by American singer Frank Ocean. It was released on August 20, 2016, as the lead single from his second studio album, Blonde (2016), accompanied by a music video directed by Tyrone Lebon, exclusive to Apple Music. It is Ocean's first single since "Super Rich Kids", which was released in 2013. Ocean wrote the song, producing it alongside Malay Ho and Om'Mas Keith. Former Dirty Projectors vocalist Amber Coffman contributed additional vocals.

<i>Dirty Projectors</i> (album) 2017 studio album by Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors is the seventh studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, which was released on Domino Records on February 21, 2017.

<i>City of No Reply</i> 2017 studio album by Amber Coffman

City of No Reply is the first solo album from singer-songwriter Amber Coffman, the former guitarist and vocalist for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors. The album was released on June 2, 2017.

<i>Utopia</i> (Björk album) 2017 studio album by Björk

Utopia is the ninth studio album by Icelandic singer-musician Björk. It was primarily produced by Björk and Venezuelan electronic record producer Arca, and released on 24 November 2017 through One Little Indian Records in the United Kingdom and The Orchard Enterprises in the United States. The album was acclaimed by music critics for its production, songwriting and Björk's vocals, and later received a nomination for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, becoming Björk's eighth consecutive nomination in the category.

<i>Lamp Lit Prose</i> 2018 studio album by Dirty Projectors

Lamp Lit Prose is the eighth studio album by American experimental rock group Dirty Projectors, and was released on Domino Records on July 13, 2018.

<i>Major Lazer Essentials</i> 2018 compilation album by Major Lazer

Major Lazer Essentials is a compilation album released by American electronic dance music trio Major Lazer. It was initially released on October 19, 2018, through the groups record label Mad Decent Records. It includes the singles "Cold Water", "Run Up", "All My Life", "Orkant/Balance Pon It", "Tied Up", "Loyal" and "Blow That Smoke". It also features appearances from Ariana Grande, Camila Cabello, Quavo, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Vybz Kartel, Travis Scott, Tarrus Riley, Bruno Mars, Nyla, Sean Paul, MØ, Ty Dolla Sign, Ellie Goulding, Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Amber Coffman, among others.

<i>Music Is the Weapon</i> 2020 studio album by Major Lazer

Music Is the Weapon is the fourth studio album by American electronic band Major Lazer, released on October 23, 2020, via Mad Decent. It is Major lazer's first album in five years since Peace Is the Mission (2015). First announced in 2015, many conflicting statements have been made about the album, with the latest reports being that it will be the final Major Lazer album. It was later announced in 2019 that the album would instead be titled Lazerism, but the name was later changed back to the original title. It is the first album to be released after Jillionaire left the group and was replaced by Ape Drums. A deluxe edition of the album titled Music Is the Weapon (Reloaded) was released on March 26, 2021.

References

  1. Connor, Reed (5 June 2017). "Amber Coffman: City of No Reply". spectrumculture.com. Spectrum Culture. Retrieved 9 August 2022. "Dark Night" grafts a smooth R&B rhythm over growling, sinister synths that threaten derailment at any moment.
  2. 1 2 Blisten, Jon. "Hear Dirty Projectors' Amber Coffman Make Ethereal Solo Debut". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Snapes, Laura (2017-06-02). "Amber Coffman on life after Dirty Projectors: 'Being on my own was pretty heavy'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  4. 1 2 Varga, George (October 30, 2009). "Timing fortuitous for Dirty Projectors' Coffman". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  5. Comaratta, Len (2012-07-09). "Interview: Amber Coffman (of Dirty Projectors)". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  6. Society, National Geographic. "Björk and Dirty Projectors Release Mount Wittenberg Orca -- National Geographic". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 5, 2010. Retrieved 2017-06-07.
  7. Lockett, Dee (June 2, 2017). "Amber Coffman on Her Debut Solo Album and Life After Dirty Projectors". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  8. Adams, Erik (2017-06-02). "Amber Coffman, Gucci Mane, and more in this week's music reviews". A.V. Club. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  9. Anderson, Stacey (May 1, 2017). "Amber Coffman on Why Her Solo Debut Is More Than a Breakup Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  10. 1 2 Larry, Fitzmaurice (26 April 2010). "Rusko: "Hold On" [ft. Amber Coffman]". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  11. Laura, Snapes (15 April 2012). "Download Major Lazer's Collaboration With Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors: "Get Free"". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  12. Blanco, Alvin Aqua (13 November 2013). "J. Cole ft. Amber Coffman – "She Knows"". Hip Hop Wired. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  13. Singh, Amrit (26 April 2013). "Snoop Lion – "No Regrets" (Feat. T.I. & Amber Coffman)". Stereogum . Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  14. Young, Alex (2016-08-20). "Frank Ocean shares new single "Nikes" and lavish, nudity-filled video — watch". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  15. "Amber Coffman - Belgium (Flanders) Charts". ultratop.be/nl/ Hung Medien.
  16. "Amber Coffman - Belgium (Wallonia) Charts". ultratop.be/fr/ Hung Medien.
  17. "Major Lazer - Danish Charts". lescharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  18. "Major Lazer - French Charts". lescharts.com/ Hung Medien.
  19. "Major Lazer - Dutch Charts". dutchcharts.nl/ Hung Medien.
  20. Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  21. 1 2 "British certifications – Amber Coffman". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved April 24, 2024.Type Amber Coffman in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.