The journey of Chicane

Electronic act Chicane was huge in the late ‘90s to early 2000s. Everyone with an ear for electronic music in the country could dance along to massive club hit Offshore or promptly go “Awww…” upon hearing heartbreaking chill piece No Ordinary Morning. In fact, Chicane was so big that even Filipinos who couldn’t tell Strong in Love from Stoned in Love knew of Chicane.

But it wasn’t all just hype. Chicane really did produce quite moving stuff. From the 1996 breakout hit Offshore to the sunshiney electronic number Spirit, Chicane was known to be a master of melody and a pro in production.

First, let’s get one thing straight. Chicane is not a lone DJ. Chicane is actually a band, with a changing set of vocalists, guitarists, bassists, drummers, percussionists, flutists, producers… the works. All these artists tag along on live performances, as was the case in Chicane’s 2006 Manila visit where a group appeared onstage instead of just a single dude, probably surprising quite a number of the party’s attendees. The guy you frequently see posing on album covers, gracing press photos, and basically being the face of Chicane is electronic musician and record producer Nick Bracegirdle, who juggles duties as composer, producer, keyboardist, and all-around mastermind for the group.

Okay, some people will say that more or less makes him a one-man show and essentially the embodiment of Chicane. Well, Nick himself stresses that Chicane is a band: on Chicane’s official website www.chicanemusic.com, the biography states, “The Chicane concept is one of a nomadic band which doesn’t conform to the traditional approach of having a single lead singer, working with many different artists and producers.” Let’s just take their word for it.

Nick, whose other projects include Disco Citizens and Mr. Joshua Presents Espiritu of In Praise of the Sun fame, hit gold when he conceptualized Chicane, eventually achieving worldwide prominence with the release of the breakthrough debut album “Far from the Maddening Crowds” in 1997.

“Far from the Maddening Crowds” is a record that succinctly personifies the heavenly Balearic sound that was all the rage in the trance scene in the late ‘90s. Singles like Offshore, Sunstroke, Lost You Somewhere, the ambient opener Early, and the breakbeat-infused From Blue to Green, with their requisite light and airy instrumentation and atmospheric sea sounds, all invoke visions of warm Ibiza summers punctuated by gentle waves lapping on the shore.

With follow-up album “Behind the Sun”’s release in 1999, Chicane was further catapulted to electronic music fame. Nick, who had earlier worked with American singer Bryan Adams on a remix of Bryan’s Cloud Number Nine, teamed up with the singer again for “Behind the Sun”’s most notable hit Don’t Give Up, which features the rocker’s vocoder-enhanced vocals to pump up the electronic feel. Don’t Give Updebuted at number one on UK charts and even peaked at number three on US dance charts.

Also on “Behind the Sun” are the perfectly named climactic trance masterpiece Halcyon, the heartrending chillout classic No Ordinary Morning, the Latin-tinged Low Sun, the breezy Autumn Tactics with Justine Suissa on vocals, and the soothing Saltwater featuring the ethereal voice of Maire Brennan. All in all, “Behind the Sun” is an impeccable release, giving Chicane nowhere to go but up.

Further proof of Nick’s success as a producer was his stint co-writing songs on Cher’s album “Living Proof” in 2002 and collaborating and producing remixes for other artists such as Everything but the Girl. BT, B*Witched, Jose Padilla, and Enigma.

But things went sour just when Chicane was at the peak of its career. The next two years saw Nick battling independent label Xtravaganza Recordings, to which the group was signed. Chicane eventually left the label and joined juggernaut Warner Music Group armed with plans to release third album “Easy to Assemble” in 2003. First single Love on the Run featuring the voice of Peter Cunnah was launched ahead of the album, garnering excitement for the impending release. Although promotional copies of “Easy to Assemble” were later disseminated, the album’s commercial release never materialized, disappointing Chicane fans everywhere. Later, it was revealed that the album never saw daylight because Internet leakage and bootlegging of the promotional copy had preceded it, spoiling the surprise and forcing Nick to withdraw the much-anticipated album. On Chicane’s website, Nick shares his thoughts on the issue, and he doesn’t sound too happy about it: “Amongst many others a wretched character in Russia was peddling my wares on his personal website, rendering two years of work completely useless,” explains Nick. “I was not pleased.”

See the evils of piracy? It makes even the best of them just want to throw in the towel.

Chicane also left then label Warner Music after the company’s sale to another owner, putting the project in greater limbo.

But every cloud has a silver lining, and in Chicane’s case, the silver lining finally showed up in 2006 with the release of Don’t Give Up, the group’s first single under new label Universal Music. A rock-infused vocal house track featuring the commanding albeit curiously high-pitched vocals of no less than ‘70s pop legend Tom Jones, Don’t Give Up announced to the world that Chicane had bounced back from the ordeal.

It would be a while before things would stabilize for Chicane as February 2007 saw Chicane once again leaving its then label Universal. Nick finally brought the project home to his own indie label Modena.

In July of 2007, years after the “Easy to Assemble” debacle, Chicane finally came out with latest offering “Somersault.” “Somersault” marks Nick’s departure from his trademark Balearic sound, as exemplified by lead single Don’t Give Up’s heavier attention to bass and guitars. Other tracks on “Somersault,” such as the alterna-electro Come Tomorrow and the cute and perky Spirit featuring songstress Jewel on vocals, exhibit a similar breaking away from that languorous Ibiza mood.

On August 25, 2008, Chicane will be releasing their newest gem Bruised Water, a track that boasts of the brilliant Natasha Bedingfield on singing duties. The vocal trance-house amalgam calls on one of Chicane’s earliest hits, Saltwater, for inspiration, and the result is fantastic. Needless to say, Chicane is back on track.

Catch Chicane and its current lineup of Natasha Brocklebanks and Daniel Tooman on vocals, Simon Small on guitars, Carl Holt on bass, Mark Pusey on drums, Assaf Seewi on percussions, and of course Nick Bracegirdle on keyboards and programming on Sept. 27, 2008 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. The lineup of this gig will be astounding as johnboy will open followed by Chicane live onstage; then the superstar trance duo Agnelli and Nelson will take the party higher till sunrise. I assure you, it’ll be one hell of an experience to hear a great electronic music icon play with a full band in tow.

For comments and suggestions, feel free to e-mail me at bigfish@bigfishmanila.com.