Balloon were an early 1990s music duo from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, consisting of Ian Bickerton and David Sheppard. Their first album, ''

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

'', was released in 1992 by

Dedicated Records Dedicated was a British independent record label that released music between 1990 and 1998 by Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, Global Communication, Beth Orton (in the U.S.), Chapterhouse, Cranes and others. It was based in London and founded by D ...

, a British record label known for

neo-psychedelia Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop su ...

.Jenkins, Mark.
Balloon Floating On Jazzy 'Gravity'
,

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, 26 June 1992, p. N16.

Biography

Bickerton and Sheppard met in 1988. They recorded more than 60 demo tracks before they were signed by

. Critic Eve Zibart of ''

'' described the band's music as "a peculiarly soothing mix of Feargal Sharkey, Storyville, white soul, mild social unrest punk and Leonard Cohen." Jae-Ha Kim of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' wrote, "Balloon's music is atmospheric and winsome, with acoustic guitars caressing velvety voices." Their first album, ''

'', was released in 1992. Produced by

Michael Brook Michael Brook (born 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, music producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores. His collaborations with musicians around the worl ...

, the record featured contributions from

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

(on the track "Tightrope Walker") and James Pinker. Bickerton wrote the music and lyrics, while Sheppard played all sorts of instruments. The album was recorded mostly in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, at

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie ...

' studio. The duo toured the US in 1992,Lozaw, Tristram. "Balloon bursting on scene with 'station-wagon' tour", ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'', 1992-06-26, p. S16. with percussionist James Pinker as a touring member.Augusto, Troy J. (August 1992). "Sarah Mclachlan; Balloon", ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' review database. Balloon supported Bill Hicks on his final UK tour, including performing at the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on Dec 1st 1992. Balloon played a one-off show at the Social, London WC1, in November 2016.

References

English musical duos Dedicated Records artists Neo-psychedelia groups Musical groups from London Rock music duos {{UK-band-stub