Kelli Ali

Last updated

Kelli Ali
Birth nameKelli Dayton
Born (1974-06-30) 30 June 1974 (age 50)
Birmingham, England
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1990–present
Labels One Little Independent Records
Formerly of
Website Kelliali.com

Kelli Ali, also known as Kelli Dayton (born 30 June 1974), [1] is a British vocalist, guitarist and painter who was formerly the lead singer of the trip hop group Sneaker Pimps before going on to a solo career.

Contents

Career

Early bands (1990–1996)

Before Sneaker Pimps, Ali was part of a group called Psycho Drama, which she joined when she was 16 years old. A few years later, she was asked by Russell Cross of the band The Lumieres to join his band (as their songwriter, singer, and lead guitarist). [2] The Lumieres only had one major single, "Cinder Hearts".

Sneaker Pimps and Becoming X (1996–1997)

With Sneaker Pimps she was featured prominently in both the songs and the music videos for the album Becoming X (the group finding fame following the release of the hit single "6 Underground"). Ali was released from the group in 1998 when Chris Corner, the principal songwriter, decided to do vocals for his own songs. [3]

Tigermouth, Psychic Cat and Rocking Horse (1998–2008)

After leaving Sneaker Pimps, she moved on to a solo career under the name Kelli Ali after her father who had passed away before the release of Becoming X. [4] Her first solo album, Tigermouth , was released in 2003. It includes tracks "Sunlight in the Rain" and "Kids" and features ex-Doors drummer John Densmore. [5] She toured alongside Garbage in April 2002 and released a follow-up album, Psychic Cat , in mid-2004. The second album was more of a return to Ali's rock and roll roots and featured musician-turned-author Tony O'Neill on keyboards. [6]

In April 2006, she travelled to Japan to record and write tracks with Hoshino Hidehiko from Buck-Tick and Cube Juice for the band Dropz. [7] The same year, producer Paul Oakenfold recorded the Kelli Ali penned song "Faster Kill Pussycat" with actress Brittany Murphy. It is Murphy's only single release.

On 24 November 2008, Ali released Rocking Horse , her third solo album. [8] The album was produced by Max Richter (Fat Cat records) in Glasgow and Edinburgh in the first half of 2008. In 2009, she self-released the album Butterfly . [9]

Band of Angels and Ghostdriver (2013–present)

Ali released her 5th album in 2013, entitled Band of Angels. [10] She has collaborated with the UK band Cult With No Name.

On 2 December 2016, on her Instagram feed Kelli Ali announced a new project, Ghostdriver. [11] In her announcement Ali stated "...it will be a joint album & film project. A noir thriller and love letter to London." The project was being crowd-funded via a PledgeMusic campaign. On 30 December 2017, Ali posted an update to the site, stating, "Thanks to you, all the filming for Ghostdriver was completed and the edit is in full swing, all songs written and in the later stages of production." [12]

On 24 November 2018, Ali released "The Fear of London" as the lead single from Ghostdriver. It was distributed as a seven-track digital remix single exclusively to fans who contributed to her PledgeMusic campaign. This was followed by an exclusive PledgeMusic-only digital release of the full 15-track Ghostdriver album on 26 January 2019, with an announcement that a full commercial release of the album and single will follow later in 2019 in conjunction with the release of the final film. [13] In the album release announcement, Ali also revealed that her former Sneaker Pimps bandmate and notable producer and engineer Liam Howe contributed extensively to the mix and additional production of the album, notably marking the first collaboration between two original Sneaker Pimps band members since their disbandment.

As post-production work on the film continued through 2019, Ali released a stand-alone single, "Sadistic". It is a collaboration with producer Satoshi Tomiie, recorded during the Ghostdriver sessions. It features additional mix and production from Liam Howe. Released in December 2019 was a limited edition, deluxe Lipstick USB set and a new music video. The Ghostdriver film's post-production suffered delays in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The soundtrack album was released 26 November 2020, [14] with the film expected around summer 2023 after various post-production delays. As of September 2024 the film has not been released.

In September 2019, Kelli Ali appeared as a main feature in the Visual Collaborative electronic catalogue, in an issue themed Vivencias which translates to "Experiences" in Spanish. She was interviewed alongside 30 people from around the world such as Dakore Akande, Adelaide Damoah and Desdamona. [15] [16]

In 2021, Ali's song "Rocking Horse" appeared on the soundtrack of the six-part Netflix thriller series Behind Her Eyes . [17]

Paintings and Drawings

Kelli Ali is selling paintings and drawings signed by herself via bigcartel.com.

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details
TitleDetails
Tigermouth
Psychic Cat
  • Released: 24 May 2004
  • Label: One Little Indian
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
Rocking Horse
  • Released: 24 November 2008
  • Label: One Little Indian
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
Butterfly
  • Released: 1 April 2009
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
A Paradise Inhabited by Devils
(with Ozymandias)
  • Released: 28 October 2010
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: Digital download, streaming
Band of Angels
  • Released: 7 January 2013
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
Ghostdriver
  • Released: 25 January 2019
  • Label: Self-released
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming

Singles

As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with selected chart positions
TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK Dance
[18] 		UK Indie
[18]
"Kids"20011036Tigermouth
"Inferno High Love"2002——
"Teardrop Hittin' the Ground"2003——
"Speakers"2004——Psychic Cat
"Hot Lips"——
"What to Do"2008——Rocking Horse
"The Savages"2009——
"Kiss Me Cleopatra"2013——Band of Angels
"The Art of Love"2015——
"The Hunter"2017——
"The Fear of London"2018——Ghostdriver
"Sadistic"2019——
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
List of singles as a featured artist, with selected chart positions
TitleYearPeak chart positionsAlbum
UK
[18] 		UK Dance
[18] 		UK Indie
[18] 		GER
[19] 		SWI
[20] 		US Dance
[21]
"Up in Flames"
(Satoshi Tomiie featuring Kelli Ali)		1999788———4Full Lick
"Love in Traffic"
(Satoshi Tomiie featuring Kelli Ali)		200179—8——4
"Play with Bootsy"
(Bootsy Collins featuring Kelli Ali)		2002———5773— Play with Bootsy
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Guest appearances

List of guest appearances, with other performing artists
TitleYearOther artist(s)Album
"Almost Diamonds"1999 Marc Almond Open All Night
"Still"Double SixBeyond Sci-Fi
"Voodoo"2001StashriderNon-album singles
"This Way"2002Marc van Linden, Madagascar
"Cruel" Bryan Ferry, Alice Retif, Audrey Wheeler, Sarah Brown Frantic
"Hiroshima…"Bryan Ferry, Alice Retif
"San Simeon"Bryan Ferry, Alison Goldfrapp, Lucy Kaplansky, Patti Russo, Sarah Brown
"My<Dsmbr" Linkin Park, Mickey P. Reanimation
"Payback Time"2003The Dysfunctional Psychedelic WaltonsNon-album single
"Transient Man"Millenia NovaNarcotic Wide Screen Vista
"Sadness"2004The HappeningAs Deep as We Can Go Without Drowning
"Searchlight"
"Live Girls"2007 Freddy Fresh Surrounded by Funk
"Hope Is Existence"2012 Cult with No Name Above as Below
"Maitre D-Day"
"Drowned"
"Today the Day (They Knew Would Come)"Cult with No Name, Meg Maryatt
"Numbers"Cult with No Name
"What's Certain"
"Shake Hands with the Devil"
"Secondary Sexual Characteristics"
"Escape Under Blankets"2013JilkRetreat…
"Everything Lasts on Age"2014Cult with No NameAnother Landing
"A Pound of Penny Gaffs"
"Swept Away"
"Every Litte Box"
"Those Weren't the Days"
"Not Stranger Than Fiction"
"Walter + Wally"
"Over and Out of Here"
"Dorothy"2015 Tuxedomoon, Cult with No Name Blue Velvet Revisited
"Frank"
"Sunshine (Tricky Remix)" Mexican Institute of Sound, Toy SelectahNon-album single
"Coma (Cult with No Name Remodel)"2016 S'Express, Cult with No NameEnjoy This Trip
"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"2017The Eden HouseSongs for the Broken Ones
"Rosabelle, Believe"Cult with No NameHeir of the Dog
"Fingertips"
"When I Was a Girl"
"Yves Klein's Blues"
"Just Rewards"
"Of California"
"No News"
"Blind Dogs for the Guides"2019Cult with No NameMediaburn
"Needle and Thread"
"In Hollywood You Won't Find Bel-Air"
"She Sells Incels"
"So Much Left to Undo"
"By Air or by Sea"
"Low on High"
"Mona"
"All This Spite (Comes at a Price)"
"All Those Things I Admire"2021Cult with No NameNights in North Sentinel
"Fight or Flight"
"You're All I Ever Needed"
"After the Storm"
"Home Again"
"Bulletproof"
"Cult with No Name"

Filmography

Personal life

Ali was brought up in the suburbs of Birmingham. She is of Irish, English, and Indian descent. She bought her first guitar when she was 15. She is a practitioner of kung-fu and Taoism. [22]

Related Research Articles

Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, Becoming X (1996), and its singles "6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article the Beastie Boys published in their Grand Royal magazine about a man they hired to track down classic sneakers.

Trip hop is a musical genre that originated in the late 1980s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound, often incorporating elements of jazz, soul, funk, reggae, dub, R&B, and other genres, typically of electronic music, as well as sampling from movie soundtracks and other eclectic sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6 Underground (song)</span> 1996 single by Sneaker Pimps

"6 Underground" is a song by the English band Sneaker Pimps from their debut studio album, Becoming X (1996). First released as a single in the United Kingdom in September 1996 by Clean-up Records, the song reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and had moderate radio airplay in the United States, where it was shipped to modern rock and dance stations in February 1997. After the song was used in the 1997 American film The Saint, radio stations began playing "6 Underground" more frequently. The single was re-released in May 1997, when it peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the song peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number seven on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

<i>Becoming X</i> 1996 studio album by Sneaker Pimps

Becoming X is the debut studio album by English electronic band Sneaker Pimps. It was released on 19 August 1996 in the United Kingdom by Clean Up Records and on 25 February 1997 in the United States by Virgin Records. The album marked the only appearance of Kelli Dayton as lead singer before she was asked to leave the band; Chris Corner replaced her for the band's subsequent albums.

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References

  1. ↑ "Kelli Ali". Kelli Ali. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "Kelli Ali Psychic Cat Times – The Lumieres". Kelliali.com. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  3. ↑ "Kelli Ali". Kelli Ali. 6 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Billboard". 16 June 2001.
  5. ↑ "Tigermouth – Kelli Ali | Credits". AllMusic. 4 March 2003. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Joshua Glazer (26 October 2004). "Psychic Cat – Kelli Ali | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Kelli Ali". Kelli Ali. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Simmy Richman (23 November 2008). "Album: Kelli Ali, Rocking Horse, (One Little Indian) | Reviews | Culture". The Independent . Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Kelli Ali". Kelli Ali. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Kelli Ali: New Album – Band of Angels". Pledgemusic.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "kellialiofficial VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT". Instagram.com. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  12. ↑ "'Ghostdriver' New album & Film". PledgeMusic.com. 19 June 2016. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "'Ghostdriver' Ghostdriver – Album Exclusive". PledgeMusic.com. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  14. ↑ "Kelli Ali Ghostdriver Original Soundtrack Album". BandCamp.com. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  15. ↑ "Dakore Egbuson-Akande, Swaady Martin, others catalogued in Vicencias". vanguardngr.com. Vanguard. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Kelli Ali main feature interview in Visual Collaborative Vivencias". visualcollaborative.com. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  17. ↑ "Behind Her Eyes soundtrack: all the songs in the Netflix thriller". RadioTimes.com. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kelli Ali". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  19. ↑ "Bootsy Collins - German Chart". germancharts.de. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "Bootsy Collins - Swiss chart". hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on September 4, 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  21. ↑ "Kelli Ali – Chart History: Dance Club Songs". Billboard . Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  22. ↑ "Kelli Ali chats to ilikemusic.com". Kelli Ali: The Infinite Star. I Like Music. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
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