It’s been some fourteen years since Nick Bracegirdle arrived as the ‘God of the Ibiza anthem’.
Chicane
Some records are of their time and stay there, some somehow form a bedrock in musical consciousness, ‘Offshore’ certainly has done that: millions would have heard the track and most likely not know who it was by; as with other Chicane tracks, their usage as incidental tunes on TV around the world is phenomenal.
More Ibiza anthem’s followed, ‘Saltwater’, Autumn Tactics’, ‘Halcyon’, in that golden period through to the millennium Chicane, was trance, and trance was Ibiza, or at least the Ibiza dance tourists brought home. Blissed up kids returned from the island and wanted to play the tracks that reminded them of sunrises, sunsets, Cafe del Mar and all that was in-between.
‘Behind the Sun’, which featured a track called ‘Don’t Give Up’, featuring Bryan Adams, was a turning point. Originally the single was white labelled without acknowledgement of Bryan’s involvement, however, that only intensified the interest in both the track and who the vocalist was. ‘Don’t Give Up’ became a UK No. 1and international hit.
Nick Bracegirdle, who has always insisted he was as much live act as a writer producer, spent the next two years touring the album worldwide, Ibiza, and 6am sets seemed a long way away. The band played their last gig on the island back in 2002.
Nick’s reputation as a writer and producer got calls from established acts that wanted to induce some of the Chicane sound into their own. He has either, written, remixed, performed with, or produced for acts as diverse as; Cher, BT, William Orbit, Bryan Adams (East Side Story), Natasha Bedingfield, Jewel, Sir Tom Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. His music seems to have some large generation spans; Sir Michael Caine is a big fan and recently played, ‘No Ordinary Morning’ on Desert Island Discs, as well as featuring Chicane on what must have been one of the most bizarre compilation albums of all time ‘Cained’.
In 2008 Chicane released a ‘Best Of’ album, which included the UK top ten hit ‘Poppihola’, which, is a rework of the Sigur Ros track, “Hoppipolla”, as well as a ledger of tracks from 1997 to present day and has gone on to sell over 200,000 copies
Through 2008 to 2010, Chicane toured the album worldwide; Australia, Russia, Europe, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Ukraine, Africa, Scandinavia, Singapore (inaugural F1 race), and of course the UK.
Now, July 26th see’s the release of both the new studio album “Giants” and the single ‘Middledistancerunner’ , featuring a vocal from Owl City’s Adam Young. The album has a few guest appearances, some uncredited, some not - Lemar boldly makes an appearance on ‘What am I Doing Here (part 2)’ and Tash Andrews, sometime live vocalist with the band appears too on ‘Hiding All the Stars’.
This album is an updated but voracious return to the Chicane of old. Nick describes it as ‘related but evolved to the older albums’. Certainly tracks leaked through official websites have sparked more than a wave of excitement. In some ways it is isn’t what people expect, but it is maybe what they want.
Giants – released by Modena Records on August 2nd 2010
Barefoot
Middledistancerunner (featuring Adam Young)
Come Back
What Am I doing Here (part 1)
Giants
Poppiholla 5am
So Far Out to Sea
Where Do I Start
From Where I Stand
Hiding All the Stars
What Am I Doing Here (part 2) (featuring Lemar)
Titles
Middledistancerunner (dc edit)