Steve Mason is a Scottish musician, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of

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. He has also been a member of Black Affair with

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History

Mason started his music career as the lead singer and one of the founding members of

. According to '' Q'' magazine, after leaving the band Mason was so deep in debt at one point that he was forced to take a second job on a building site. The singer was also crippled by a depression that only recently lifted.Rob Fearn. '' Q''. June 2010. Albums review. p. 126 During the Beta Band era, Steve appeared on TV shows including '' The Adam & Joe Show'' (2001) and ''

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'' (2005). Mason released solo material as King Biscuit Time, including two EPs on Regal Records and one album on No Style Records, an imprint of

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. Mason has also worked under the name Black Affair, and has released one album under this pseudonym on

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. On 19 April 2009, ''

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'' reported that Mason was working on a new album with the record producer,

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. This album, ''Boys Outside'', was released in March 2010 and is the first album under Mason's own name. The first single, "All Come Down", was released as a

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at the end of November 2009. ''Q'' gave the album a 4/5 rating. According to Rob Fearn, the album "relocates Mason in a grand tradition of indie boys doing idiosyncratic electronic pop, a line stretching back through Hot Chip, New Order,

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and Brian Eno". Fearn argued that the album, "totally different from what he did in King Biscuit Time and Black Affair", might be seen as a "welcome return to a stripped-down songcraft". It is "...not just a work that can finally measure up to eta Band's'' The Three EPs'', but is a sign of a "bold new start", according to the critic. In 2013, Mason released ''Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time''. The album covers topics as diverse as his recent struggles with depression and loneliness, the suicide of David Kelly (former weapons inspector in Iraq) and the London riots. The Independent called it "his most rewarding release since the Beta Band".

Discography

The Beta Band

:''see The Beta Band Discography''

King Biscuit Time

EPs

Singles

Albums

Black Affair

Singles

Albums

Steve Mason

Singles

Studio albums

References

External links

*
Steve Mason fansite at betaband.co.ukKing Biscuit Time's official site
* *
Interview with Steve Mason at TLOBF after release of Boys OutsideSteve Mason: Out of the blackness – Interview in the Guardian 6 April 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Steve Musicians from Edinburgh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Double Six Records artists People educated at Madras College