Cat's Eyes are an

alternative pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

duo formed in early 2011 by vocalist

Faris Badwan Faris Adam Derar Badwan (born 21 September 1986) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the Horrors and as half of the duo Cat's Eyes. Early life Born in Bexley, Kent on 21 September 1986 to a Palestinian father and Englis ...

(known for his work with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

the Horrors The Horrors are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005 by lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...

) and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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soprano, composer and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira.

History

The band formed after Badwan introduced Zeffira to 1960s

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...

music. Zeffira became intrigued by the likes of

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and acts produced by

Joe Meek Robert George "Joe" Meek (5 April 1929 – 3 February 1967) was an English record producer and songwriter considered one of the most influential sound engineers of all time, being one of the first to develop ideas such as the recording studio a ...

and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

, and soon began work on a demo version of a track (which eventually became "The Lull") in a similar style, which she sent to Badwan upon completion. Using Zeffira's classical music contacts, the band were able to perform a short performance using a

church organ Carol Williams performing at the West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. In music, the organ is a keyboard instrument of one or mo ...

and choir at the

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, in front of several important

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. Following positive press on the performance, they offered free downloads of two songs via their website, "Not a Friend" and a cover/remix of

Grinderman Grinderman was an Australian-American rock band that formed in London, England, in 2006. The band included Nick Cave (vocals, guitar, organ, piano), Warren Ellis (tenor guitar, electric mandolin, violin, viola, guitar, backing vocals), Martyn P ...

's "When My Baby Comes". On 28 February 2011, the duo released the '' Broken Glass'' EP on the

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

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. It was recorded at

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

's RealWorld Studios with

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Steve Osborne. The ''Broken Glass'' EP featured three original compositions and a

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of a previously unreleased demo song by the Horrors, "Sunshine Girls". It met with positive press and was followed by the release of full-length album '' Cat's Eyes'' on 11 April 2011. Also recorded at RealWorld Studios, ''Cat's Eyes'' received positive reviews, with a 4-star review from ''

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'' and a score of 7.9 from

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, and yielded two singles, "Face in the Crowd" (on 2 May 2011) and "Over You" (on 25 July 2011). The duo recorded the soundtrack (released in February 2015) for Peter Strickland's 2014 film ''

The Duke of Burgundy ''The Duke of Burgundy'' is a 2014 British erotic romance drama film written and directed by Peter Strickland, and starring Sidse Babett Knudsen as Cynthia and Chiara D'Anna as Evelyn. The film was screened at various film festivals, includi ...

'', for which they won the

European Film Award for Best Composer The European Film Award for Best Composer is one of the awards presented by the European Film Academy. It was first presented as a Special Jury Award in 1998 received by Yuri Khanon for the music of ''Days of Eclipse''. A set of nominees was pres ...

. Preceded by the singles "Chameleon Queen" and "Drag", both issued in February 2016, the band's second album, '' Treasure House'', was released on 3 June 2016 on the

Kobalt Label Services Kobalt Music Recordings is a division of Kobalt Music Group. KLS provides record label services to artists, receiving a share of revenues, while allowing artists to retain ownership of their master recordings. The company was founded in 2012 wh ...

record label. In March 2016, they unofficially performed "We'll Be Waiting" at a private evening event at the

Queen's Gallery The King's Gallery, previously known as the Queen's Gallery, is a public art gallery at Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the British monarch, in London. First opened to the public in the reign of Elizabeth II in 1962, it exhibits ...

, part of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, under the pretence of being a Renaissance music ensemble.

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Cat's Eyes'' (2011,

) * '' Treasure House'' (2016,

)

Soundtracks

* '' The Duke of Burgundy (soundtrack)'' (2015, RAF/

Caroline International Caroline may refer to: People * Caroline (singer) (born 1981), Japanese glitch pop musician * Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (1933–2017), American football player * Jamie Caroline (born 1999), British racing driv ...

)

Singles and EPs

* '' Broken Glass'' EP (2011, Polydor) * "Face in the Crowd" (2011, Polydor) * "Over You" (2011, Polydor) *"The Duke of Burgundy" (2015, Raf Records) *"Names on the Mountains" (2016, Raf Records) * "Chameleon Queen" (2016, Kobalt Label Services) * "Drag" (2016, Kobalt Label Services) *"Be Careful Where You Park Your Car" (2016, Raf Records)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cat's Eyes British classical music groups British pop music duos European Film Award for Best Composer winners Music in Southend-on-Sea Musical groups established in 2011