Dragonette

Dragonette
Dragonette performing at the MSN.ca Launch Party on October 1, 2009
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Synthpop, new wave
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Mercury, Universal, I Surrender
Associated acts	The New Deal, Martin Solveig, Kaskade, The Knocks, Don Diablo
Website	dragonetteonline.com
Members	Martina Sorbara Dan Kurtz Joel Stouffer
Past members	Simon Craig Will Stapleton Chris Hugget

Dragonette is a Canadian electronic music band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 2005.^[1] The band consists of singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara, bassist and producer Dan Kurtz (also in The New Deal) and drummer Joel Stouffer.

Dragonette released a self-titled EP before being signed to Mercury Records and relocating to London, where they recorded and released their debut album Galore to moderate critical appreciation.^[2] A second studio album, Fixin to Thrill, was released in 2009. The group's third studio album, Bodyparts, was released on September 22, 2012.

History

Sorbara and Kurtz met at a Canadian music festival^[3] and formed a duo named The Fuzz,^[4] making music together in their basement recording studio for fun. The duo formed Dragonette after these initial recordings, and supported New Order on only their second live performance. In 2005, the band released Dragonette EP, prior to signing a record deal with UK record label Mercury Records.

Dragonette relocated to London to record their debut album Galore, released on September 25, 2007, and toured the UK supporting local acts, including Basement Jaxx (with whom Sorbara also recorded the track "Take Me Back to Your House") and Sugababes and played headline gigs in small venues across the UK and Canada. British musician Will Stapleton replaced Simon Craig on guitar following the relocation. Dragonette filmed two music videos, one for "Jesus Doesn't Love Me" and another for "I Get Around". The former video leaked onto the internet, while the other served as promotion for their first single release. Despite the promotion from the band, "I Get Around" reached number ninety-two on the UK Singles Chart. A further single release, "Take It Like a Man" fared no better, not even reaching the top 100 on the UK Singles Chart. Dragonette did however receive some airplay with a cover of Calvin Harris' hit single "The Girls", which was retitled "The Boys". "I Get Around" was released in the band's home country of Canada where it outperformed the UK release, peaking at number fifty-seven on Billboard's Canadian Hot 100. When Galore failed to sell as expected, Dragonette parted ways with Mercury Records.^[5]

In 2008, Dragonette received a Juno Award nomination for Best New Group, while Kurtz and Sorbara wrote and produced the song "Grab a Hold" with Cyndi Lauper for her 2008 album Bring Ya to the Brink. That same year Will James Stapleton left the band, to be replaced by Chris Hugget. Dragonette's second studio album Fixin to Thrill was released on September 29, 2009.

Dragonette have collaborated with several house DJs for releases, to varying degrees of success. Although Basement Jaxx's 2006 song "Take Me Back to Your House" only featured Sorbara on vocals, it was promoted by the band as a Dragonette collaborative. The band have since recorded several tracks with French DJ Martin Solveig, including "Boys & Girls" in 2009, "Hello" in 2010, and "Can't Stop" and "Big in Japan" in 2011; all of these tracks appear on Solveig's 2011 album Smash. Dragonette would go to win the Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year for "Hello" in April 2012.^[6] In 2010, the band also collaborated with Kaskade on "Fire in Your New Shoes" and with Don Diablo on "Animale".

A double A-side single containing the songs "Our Summer" and "Volcano" was made available digitally on July 27, 2010.^[7] Dragonette released the Mixin to Thrill compilation album digitally and a limited edition CD was sold via the band's online store as of August 3, 2010. The compilation also contains three new songs, including "Volcano", "Our Summer" and several remixes from the previous year.

In 2011, Dragonette worked with Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts, co-writing and producing the single "Lucky Day" for her debut solo album Cinderella's Eyes.^[8]

On June 21, 2012, Dragonette announced the title of their upcoming third studio album, Bodyparts, which was released on September 22, 2012.^[9] The album's lead single "Let It Go" was released on April 2, 2012.^[10] "Rocket Ship", a track from the album, was made available as a free download on the band's official SoundCloud page.^[11] The album's second single, "Live in This City", was released on August 7, 2012.^[12]

In February 2013, Dragonette recorded a version of "Won't You Be My Neighbour?", the theme song to the children's television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, for use in Target Canada's first ad campaign.^[13]

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

• Dragonette EP (2005)

Compilation albums

• Mixin to Thrill (2010)

Singles

Featured singles

Music videos

See also

• List of songs recorded by Dragonette

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dragonette.

• Official website
• Dragonette at AllMusic