Echobelly

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Echobelly are a British/Swedish alternative rock band. The literal meaning of the band's name is "hungry for change". They were brought to prominence after much praise by singer Morrissey who asked them to be the opening act on his tour. Singer Sonya's vocal style has also been compared to Morrissey's. They briefly peaked during the Britpop craze of the mid-1990s.

The original lineup consisted of:

Sonya Aurora Madan (vocals)
Glenn Johansson (guitar)
Debbie Smith (guitar)
Alex Keyser (bass)
Andy Henderson (drums)

Keyser was replaced by James Harris after their second album. Keyser went on to join another band called Dragster. Harris was soon replaced by Ruth Owen after their third album when Debbie Smith left, she is now a well known DJ on London's alternative gay scene and has also played in Snowpony, a supergroup that contained members of My Bloody Valentine and Stereolab.

[edit] Discography

The band has produced five albums:

Everyone's Got One
On
Lustra
People Are Expensive
Gravity Pulls

There is also a best-of album, I Can't Imagine The World Without Me.

Lyrically, the band were very much a product of their time, using upbeat pop/rock as the backdrop for a lyrical intensity and diversity rarely seen in the British Charts since the Britpop era. Their first single, Bellyache, released in 1993, dealt with the emotional fall-out of abortion; their early songs typically dealt with issues of equality, particularly racial and sexual, and many songs appeared to rally against lad culture. This led the band, and especially Madan, to be closely associated with the British music press driven Riot Grrl sub-culture within the britpop scene. As the Britpop scene died down, Echobelly continue producing music that show they were always capable of more than their Britpop tag. Glen and Sonya now run a record label called Fry Up.