Ednaswap was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, that existed between 1993 and 1998. Over a span of five years, the band released four major label records on East West,

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

and

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. The band is best known for the song " Torn", which was written by band members Scott Cutler and Anne Preven together with English musician

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Im ...

, and first recorded by Danish artist

Lis Sørensen Lis Sørensen (born 28 May 1955) is a Danish pop singer. In the 1970s she worked with Anne Linnet in Shit & Chanel and Anne Linnet Band. In 1983 she released her first solo album. She is also known for being the first artist to record Ednaswa ...

. It later appeared on Ednaswap's debut album and has been covered many times since then, by artists such as

Trine Rein Trine Rein is an American-Norwegian singer. Her album sales have exceeded more than a million records. She was born in San Francisco in 1970, and is married to Norwegian adventurer Lars Monsen. Biography Debut Trine Rein released her first sol ...

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing car ...

, Matt Hall,

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

Hands Like Houses Hands Like Houses are an Australian rock band from Canberra. Formed in 2008, the group is currently signed to Hopeless Records and UNFD. Their debut album, ''Ground Dweller'', was released on 13 March 2012 and charted at number 141 on the Bil ...

Neck Deep Neck Deep are a Welsh pop punk band from Wrexham, Wales formed in 2012. Founded after vocalist Ben Barlow met former lead guitarist Lloyd Roberts, the pair posted a song ("What Did You Expect?") online under the name Neck Deep. The song soon ga ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

, and

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has released two solo albums, ''Stranger in the Alps'' (2017) and ''Punisher'' (2020), both of which received critical acclaim ...

History

In 1993, songwriters

Scott Cutler Scott Michael Cutler is an American songwriter, musician, record producer, and music executive. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, he co-wrote "Torn" which was covered in 1997 by Natalie Imbruglia. Her recording became the worl ...

and

Anne Preven Anne Preven (born February 25, 1965) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer. As a member of the alternative rock band Ednaswap, she co-wrote "Torn" which was covered by Lis Sørensen (Danish), Trine Rein (Norwegian), and then N ...

invited

Rusty Anderson Rusty Anderson is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who is best known for his work as the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney's touring band though he has worked with an extensive list of artists in addition to his own solo career. Ca ...

and Paul Bushnell to join their new band, Ednaswap. Frontwoman Anne Preven came up with the band's name after she dreamed she was in a band of the same name that was so bad they were booed off-stage. Soon after recording an acoustic demo, the band was signed with the EastWest label. Ednaswap's self-titled 1995 album was the band's only record for EastWest, and the album was never put into wide release. EastWest released them from their contract soon after the album was released and the band was signed by

soon afterwards. During this time, they briefly called themselves Edna Swap rather than Ednaswap. " Torn", one of the tracks from 1997's ''Wacko Magneto,'' their first full-length album to be put into wide release, was covered by

, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart and number one on airplay around the world. It was number one on the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks. The single went on to sell over a million copies in the United Kingdom alone. However, Imbruglia's version of the song failed to bring commercial success to the band and Ednaswap subsequently disbanded on April 12, 1999. Like many bands, Ednaswap's sound evolved with nearly every release. Their self-titled debut could be best described as

Post-grunge Post-grunge is a derivative of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox and Collective So ...

, but ''Chicken'' and ''Wacko Magneto'' were grungy

Hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

with some similarities to

Veruca Salt Veruca Salt is an American alternative rock band founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992 by vocalist-guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post, drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack. They are best known for their first single, " Seether", that ...

and ''

Live Through This ''Live Through This'' is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies ...

''-era

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

. ''Wacko'' was also described by one reviewer as a "

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

smoothie". ''Wonderland Park'' further altered their sound. It was an extremely melodic

Pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

album with some harder edges than most, again similar to Hole in both musical direction and timing. Before their dissolution, the band stated that they could have seen a return to the hardness of ''Wacko Magneto'', and while no songs were recorded after ''Wonderland Park'',

Annetenna Annetenna was a short-lived band that emerged from the ashes of Ednaswap. On formation, the band were immediately signed by Columbia Records and recorded a self-titled album, which was then shelved by the record label. Founding members Anne Preve ...

's work showed an even more polished Pop sound than ''Wonderland Park''.

Members

;Former members *

– vocals *

– guitar *

– guitar *Paul Bushnell – bass *

Scot Coogan Scot Coogan is an American musician known for his accomplished drumming and vocal skills, working as both a session and touring musician. Scot resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he records, performs and has worked as a counselor at Rock and Ro ...

– drums *

Carla Azar Carla Azar is an American drummer from Huntsville, Alabama and member of the band Autolux. She also plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, and sings. Azar played drums on Jack White's albums '' Blunderbuss'', ''Lazaretto'', and '' Boarding Hous ...

– drums

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

An Unofficial Ednaswap Website
{{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Female-fronted musical groups 1993 establishments in California East West Records artists Island Records artists