Cousteau are a London-based band who enjoyed considerable international success, particularly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and the

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from 1999 to 2005. The band's sound has been compared to Burt Bacharach, Scott Walker and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

with an updated contemporary edge."MUSIC; Deeper Into the Oceanic Imagery"
''The New York Times'', 30 June 2002. 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

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Borsci in Italy), films (such as '' Happily Ever After'', with

Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song " Lemo ...

, winner of the Special Selection category at the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

2005, and ''

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

'' with

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupi ...

) and documentaries and television programmes around the world. It also enjoyed radio play on both

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

and BBC Radio 2 in the UK, later becoming a staple of the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and

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networks in the US.

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 (later to become Series 8) set up by Trevor Holden. The album sold out after receiving good reviews, including a 5-star review in ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine, and recommended album in

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

. When the band signed to Chris Blackwell's

Palm Pictures Palm Pictures is a US-based entertainment company owned and run by Chris Blackwell. Palm Pictures produces, acquires and distributes music and film projects with a particular focus on the DVD-Video format. Palm places an emphasis on such pro ...

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 ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

in the UK, and went on to sell more than 230,000 copies internationally. The band achieved gold-record status in Europe after years of consistent touring and promotion, including tours supporting

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. H ...

, David Gray, and

Goldfrapp Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp (vocals, synthesiser) and Will Gregory (synthesiser). Despite favourable reviews and a short-listing for the Mercury Prize, their ...

. In 2002 the second album, ''Sirena'', was released; the version released in the US included a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

with videos and unreleased live songs. This album sold over 80,000 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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' and '' Billboard'', and most notably a 2-page colour feature in ''

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''. In 2005 ''Sirena'' was awarded Classic Album status in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

''. The band's line-up changed when songwriter/producer

Davey Ray Moor Davey Ray Moor (born David Raymond Moore, Beirut) is an England-based songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. Biography Davey Ray Moor was born as David Raymond Moore in Beirut, his father was an accountant for the U ...

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. 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.Cousteau
Piranha PR."Cousteau Borderline, London"
''The Guardian'', 24 March 2005. Lead singer Liam McKahey (now resident in Australia) released a solo album in 2009 as 'Liam McKahey and the Bodies' entitled ''Lonely Road'', and 2014 saw the release of a second album entitled 'Black Vinyl Heart'. The HBO network in the US continues to license Cousteau's earlier work, with their song 'Mesmer' appearing in a feature about

Heidi Fleiss Heidi Lynne Fleiss (born December 30, 1965) is an American former madam. She ran an upscale prostitution ring based in Los Angeles and is often referred to as the "Hollywood Madam". Fleiss has also worked as a columnist and was a television pers ...

, 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''. Reboot In 2016 it was announced that Liam McKahey and Davey Ray Moor were returning as CousteauX and were back in the recording studio preparing new music. To honour the new era the band placed an X at the end of their name. Cousteaux is another popular French family name. The new CousteauX began with a sold-out debut at The Blue Note in Milan in May 2016. A new album (CousteauX) was released in September 2017 on Silent X Records to international critical acclaim. The duo have performed gigs in London, Portugal and Milan. The latest album, ''Stray Gods'', was released in August 2021.

Members

Current

*Liam McKahey – vocals, percussion *

– songwriter, producer, multiple instruments

Former

*Robin Brown – guitars *Joe Peet – bass guitar, violin, double bass *Dan Church – drums on the Global Warming ''Cousteau'' album *Craig Vear – drums and percussion

Discography

Albums

*''Cousteau'' – 1999, Global Warming Ltd (GLOB CD 5) *''Cousteau'' (reissue) – 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PALMCD 2058-2) *''Sirena'' – 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PALMCD 2083-2) *''Nova Scotia'' – 2005, Endeavur *''CousteauX'' – 2017, Silent X Records *''Stray Gods'' – 2021

Singles (CD)

*"The Last Good Day Of The Year" 1999, Global Warming Ltd (WARM CD 6)
''The Last Good Day Of The Year (radio mix) / Captain Swing / Love In The Meantime / The Last Good Day Of The Year (album mix)'' *"She Don't Hear Your Prayer" 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7032-2)
''She Don't Hear Your Prayer / Lovers In A Loveless Place (Babyman Remix) / Late September Rain'' *"The Last Good Day Of The Year" 2000, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7043-2)
''The Last Good Day Of The Year / Captain Swing / Rachael Lately'' *"The Last Good Day Of The Year" (US promotional enhanced CD) 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PRCD v20581)
''The Last Good Day Of The Year / Mesmer / You My Lunar Queen / The Last Good Day Of The Year (video)'' *"Into The Blue EP" (US promotional EP) 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PRCD v20583)
''She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live) / Rachael Lately'' *"Into The Blue EP" (Italian promotional EP) 2001, Nun Entertainment/Tutto magazine
''Heavy Weather (album version) / The Last Good Day of the Year (remix by Feel Good Production) / The Last Good Day of the Year (live) / She Don't Hear Your Prayer (live) / (Shades Of) Ruinous Blue (live) / Jump In The River (live)'' *"Wish You Were Her" 2001, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7049-2)
''Wish You Were Her / To Know Her / The Cuttlefish Walks The Cuttlefish Waltz'' *"Talking To Myself" 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7074-2)
''Talking To Myself / Short Sighted, Beautiful And Shy / Last Secret Of The Sea'' *"(Damn These) Hungry Times" 2002, Palm Pictures Ltd (PPCD 7089)
''(Damn These) Hungry Times (Bedroom Rockers Remix Radio Edit) / (Damn These) Hungry Times (album version) / Nothing So Bad'' *"Heavy Weather" (Promo) 2002, Naïve / Palm Pictures Ltd (AVI 9012)
''Heavy Weather'' *"Sadness" 2005, Endeavor (602498714133)
''Sadness / Nova Scotia / World Away'' *"CouseauX" (CD-R & 10" vinyl EP) 2016, Edel / Silent X Records (0211206EIT / SNTX001)
''Sally Say You Will / Love Is Not On Trial / Eve Of War / When Saturday Comes / Spoiler'' *"The Innermost Light" (Promo CD-R) 2017, Silent X Records (none)
'' The Innermost Light (Radio Mix)''

Other contributions

*'' WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 – On Air Performances'' (2002) – "Last Good Day of the Year" *''KINK LIVE'' (2002) – "Last Good Day of the Year" *''Live @ The World Cafe Tenth Anniversary Edition'' (2001) – "Last Good Day of the Year" *''From the Mountain Music Lounge Volume 9'' (2003) – "Last Good Day of the Year" *''City Folk Live IV'' (2001) – "Last Good Day of the Year" *''DETLIVE Vol 3'' (2002) – "Your Day Will Come" *''Sounds Eclectic Too'' (2002) – "You My Lunar Queen" *'' Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley'' (2002) – "Blue Melody"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cousteau British indie pop groups English pop music groups Palm Pictures artists