Emma Anderson | |
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 Anderson at the Markthalle, Hamburg in 1994 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Emma Victoria Jane Anderson |
| Born | 10 June 1967 Wimbledon, London, England |
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| Years active | 1987–1998, 2015–present |
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Emma Victoria Jane Anderson (born 10 June 1967) [1] is an English musician. She is a songwriter, and was guitarist [2] and singer in the shoegazing/Britpop band Lush.
Born in Wimbledon, London, the adopted daughter of a former army officer who ran a gentleman's club in Piccadilly, Anderson attended several schools before taking her O-Levels at Queen's College, where she met Miki Berenyi. [3] As keen music fans, they wrote a fanzine called Alphabet Soup. [4] [5]
Anderson's first band, which she joined in 1986, was the Rover Girls (which featured Chris P Mowforth and Stuart Watson, who were both later in Silverfish) as a bass player. [4]
In 1987, while Anderson was at Ealing College of Higher Education studying Humanities and Berenyi was at North London Polytechnic, they formed Lush. Lush played their very first performance at the Camden Falcon in London on 6 March 1988. [4] They went on to reasonable success, having a number of Top 40 hits over an eight-year career. Anderson told Everett True in Melody Maker , "I remember when I couldn't play, I wasn't in a band, didn't know anyone else who could play, and now we've got a record out on 4AD. I sometimes find it impossible to come to terms with what's happening." [4] Anderson and Berenyi were the only women to take part in the 1992 Lollapalooza tour of the United States. [6]
Anderson and Berenyi became major music press celebrities as part of The Scene That Celebrates Itself. Music magazines the NME and Melody Maker gleefully reported their social activities on a regular basis, [7] [8] which could be said to overshadow their increasingly strong songwriting. As drummer Chris Acland stated, "people seem to want to talk about Lush's relationship to the press more than they want to talk about Lush." [9]
Of the sound of Lush, Emma said, "We were kind of punk rock in one way. We did think 'Well, if they can do it, why the fuck can't we?' Basically, our idea was to have extremely loud guitars with much weaker vocals. And, really the vocals were weaker due to nervousness – we'd always be going 'Turn them down! Turn them down!'." [4]
After their biggest hits, the Top 30 "Single Girl", "Ladykillers" and "500 (Shake Baby Shake)" and Top 10 album, Lovelife, the band's drummer Chris Acland took his own life in 1996. The members were devastated and they split in 1996. Lush officially announced their breakup on 23 February 1998.
While a member of Lush, Anderson also worked with Drum Club contributing vocals and guitar on "Spaced Out Locked In" on their 1993 album Everything Is Now, also playing guitar on "Sound System". [10]
In 1997, Anderson formed a new band with vocalist Lisa O'Neill, Sing-Sing. Emma explained how it started, "I just started writing songs not really knowing what was going to happen though I kind of knew I didn't want to form another 4-piece indie band. I demoed those songs for 4AD with myself singing but was dropped but I wasn't fazed. I then met Lisa O'Neill via a guy I was going out with at the time. She had worked with Mark Van Hoen whom funnily enough, someone I knew said, was looking for collaborators so it kind of all fell into place and Sing-Sing was born." [11] They released two albums – The Joy of Sing-Sing in 2001 and Sing-Sing and I in 2005, before officially disbanding on New Year's Day 2008. [11]
Anderson joined in reforming Lush in 2015, releasing a four-track EP Blind Spot in early 2016.
In July 2023 it was announced that Anderson’s debut solo album Pearlies would be released on 20 October 2023 through label Sonic Cathedral. [12]
Shoegaze is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volume. It emerged in Ireland and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s among neo-psychedelic groups who usually stood motionless during live performances in a detached, non-confrontational state. The name comes from the heavy use of effects pedals, as the performers were often looking down at their pedals during concerts.
Lush were an English rock band formed in London in 1987. The original line-up consisted of Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Steve Rippon and Chris Acland (drums). Phil King replaced Rippon in 1991. They were one of the first bands to have been described with the "shoegazing" label. Following the death of Acland, the group disbanded in 1996.
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as reverb, echo, tremolo, and chorus. It often overlaps with the related genre of shoegaze, and the two genre terms have at times been used interchangeably.
Christopher John Dyke Acland was an English drummer and songwriter. He was the drummer of the London-based alternative rock band Lush.
Miki Eleonora Berenyi is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known as a member of the alternative rock band Lush and currently a member of Piroshka.
Ethereal wave, also called ethereal darkwave, ethereal goth or simply ethereal, is a subgenre of dark wave music that is variously described as "gothic", "romantic", and "otherworldly". Developed in the early 1980s in the UK as an outgrowth of gothic rock, ethereal wave was mainly represented by 4AD bands such as Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, and early guitar-driven Dead Can Dance.
Spooky is the debut studio album by English rock band Lush. It was released on 27 January 1992 by 4AD. The album, produced by Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins, followed the band's mini album, Scar (1989), several extended play releases, and the compilation album Gala (1990). Spooky reached the UK Top 10 and topped the national indie charts. The album produced three singles: "Nothing Natural", "For Love" and "Superblast!".
Sing-Sing were an English indie pop/dream pop supergroup formed in 1997 in London, comprising vocalist Lisa O'Neill and guitarist/vocalist Emma Anderson. They worked with a variety of musicians to create a sound which nodded to 1960s girl groups, electronica and folk. They disbanded in 2007.
Split is the second studio album by English rock band Lush, released on 4AD on 13 June 1994 in the United Kingdom and a day later in the US. Unusually, the two singles from the album, "Desire Lines" and "Hypocrite", were both released on the same day: 30 May 1994. Split was reissued by 4AD on CD in July 2001.
Lovelife is the third and final studio album by English rock band Lush. It was released on 5 March 1996 by 4AD. On Lovelife, the band moved away from their earlier dream pop and shoegazing style and embraced a more Britpop-oriented sound. The album was produced by Pete Bartlett and the band at Protocol Studios in London, and engineered by Giles Hall. Three songs were released as singles: "Single Girl", "Ladykillers", and "500 ", all of which achieved moderate success on the UK Singles Chart, reaching the top 30 positions. On release, Lovelife reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart.
Gala is the debut compilation album by the English alternative rock band Lush, released in 1990 by 4AD as an introduction to the US and Japanese markets, comprising the band's earliest releases in reverse chronological order, plus two additional tracks.
Ciao! Best of Lush is a compilation album by the band Lush, released in March 2001 by 4AD. The essay in the booklet was written by Dominic Wills and included quotes from members Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson. The best-of CD appeared almost five years after the band's dissolution and drummer Chris Acland's suicide; the compilation was dedicated to his memory.
Scar is a mini album by English rock band Lush. It was released on 9 October 1989 on 4AD. Originally intended to be a three-track single release, Scar was produced by John Fryer and the band themselves and recorded at London's Blackwing Studios in 1989.
Mad Love is the debut extended play by the English alternative rock band Lush. It was released on 26 February 1990 by 4AD. Produced by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie, Mad Love was composed of four tracks—including a rerecording of "Thoughtforms", a song from Lush's debut mini-album Scar (1989).
Sweetness and Light is the second extended play by the English alternative rock band Lush. It was released on 15 October 1990 on 4AD. Featuring a less abrasive sound than the band's earlier releases, the title track was also released as Lush's first single and included the B-side "Breeze".
Black Spring is the third extended play by the English alternative rock band Lush. It was released on 7 October 1991 on 4AD. The opening track, "Nothing Natural", was released as a single with the B-side "God's Gift". Several other songs were included on the EP, including a cover version of "Lady" by Dennis Wilson.
Blind Spot is the fourth and final extended play (EP) by English rock band Lush. Released on 15 April 2016, by the band's record label Edamame, the EP contains the band's first new material since 1996, following their reunion in 2015. It was produced by Jim Abbiss and Ladytron member Daniel Hunt.
"Ladykillers" is a song by English rock band Lush. It was released through 4AD on 26 February 1996 as the second single from the band's third studio album, Lovelife (1996). Known for its feminist themes, the song became one of the band's bigger hits, peaking at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 18 on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 15 on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30 chart. The song appeared in the video game NCAA Football 06.
"Ciao!" is a song by English alternative rock band Lush from their 1996 album, Lovelife. Written as a duet sung from the perspective of a breakup, the song was written by Miki Berenyi with Jarvis Cocker of Pulp making a guest appearance to sing the male vocals.
Pearlies is the debut solo album by British rock musician Emma Anderson. It has received positive reviews from critics and has been promoted with three music videos and live performances.
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