Cousteau (band)
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| Cousteau | |
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| Website | Cousteau My Space |
Cousteau are a London-based band who enjoyed considerable international success, particularly in Italy and the U.S. from 1999 to 2003. The band's sound has been compared to Burt Bacharach, Scott Walker and David Bowie with an updated contemporary edge.
Their best known song remains the single 'The Last Good Day of the Year', from their eponymous debut album. It has featured in advertisements (such as those for Nissan in the US and Borsci in Italy), feature films (such as Happily Ever After, with Charlotte Gainsborg, winner of the Special Selection category at the Toronto Film Festival 2005, and South Kensington with Rupert Everett), and documentaries and television programmes around the world. It also enjoyed radio play on both BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2 in the UK, later becoming a staple of the NPR and AAA networks in the US.
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[edit] History
The first release of the 1999 eponymous album was 'home-made' and included many demos produced for various major labels. 3,000 copies of the album were pressed by indie label Global Warming, and sold out after receiving good reviews, including a 5-star review in Uncut magazine, and recommended album in Time Out London. When the band signed to Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures label a decision was made to re-record the majority of the album (two tracks, including 'Last Good Day of the Year', were not changed). On re-release the album was Album Of The Week in The Guardian in the UK, and went on to sell more than 220,000 copies internationally.
The band achieved gold-record status in Europe after years of consistent touring and promotion, including tours supporting The Dandy Warhols, David Gray, and Goldfrapp.
In 2002 the second album, Sirena, was released; the version released in the US included a DVD with videos and unreleased live songs. This album sold over 80,00 copies, and contains the singles 'Talking to Myself' and '(Damn These) Hungry Times'. Sirena was met with critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, USA Today and Billboard, and most notably a 2-page colour feature in the New York Times. In 2005 Sirena was awarded Classic Album status in The Sydney Morning Herald.
The band's line-up changed when songwriter/producer Davey Ray Moor left to pursue production jobs in Italy, such as the No. 4 album Dove Sei Tu for Cristina Dona, a solo album 'Telepathy', released in Europe in the USA (included in Republica's Critics Top 100, 2004) and television soundtracks such as Channel 4's Supernanny.
Songwriting duties were taken on by singer Liam McKahey, and after a change in record companies, the group returned in 2005 with the album Nova Scotia, produced by U2's engineer Ger McDonnel. Nova Scotia was released in the US in 2006 under the name of Moreau, for legal reasons.
The HBO network in the US continues to licence Cousteau's earlier work, with their song 'Mesmer' appearing in a feature about Heidi Fleiss, and 'The Last Good Day of The Year' in the HBO film Tell Me You Love Me and again in the 2005 French movie Happily Ever After.
In 2008 Cousteau remain inactive, but lead singer Liam McKahey is preparing a solo album release, samples of which can be heard on his My Space site.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current
- Liam McKahey – vocals, percussion
- Robin Brown – guitars
- Joe Peet – bass guitar, violin
[edit] Former
- Davey Ray Moor – songwriter, multiple instruments
- Craig Vear – drums
- Dan Moore – keyboards
- Dan Church – drums
[edit] Discography
- Cousteau (1999, Global Warming record label, re-recorded and released again in 2001 on Palm Pictures)
- Sirena (2002, Palm Pictures)
- Nova Scotia (2005, Endeavour 2006, One Little Indian in the US as Moreau)
