Theaudience (styled as theaudience) were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The band's singer

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

became a successful solo artist after the band's disbandment.

History

Theaudience were founded by guitarist

Billy Reeves Billy Reeves (born 7 June 1965) is an English songwriter, musician, record producer and broadcaster. In 1996 he formed the London-based indie-band Theaudience, (featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor on vocals). Theaudience quickly established themselve ...

, formerly of the indie group Congregation. The group were fronted by

and included drummer/producer "Patch" Hannan (ex- The Sundays), keyboard player Nigel Butler (ex-The Bridge), guitarist Dean Mollett (ex-Porcupine) and bass guitarist Kerin Smith. Their one self-titled album received critical acclaim and reached No. 22 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, with two of four singles released reaching the Top 40 in the

. Reeves left the band in December 1998, and although the remaining band members wrote and demoed at least 33 songs for a second album, it was rejected by record label

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

, who then dropped the band, which split in 1999. Approximately half of these tracks were leaked onto the internet, most of which appeared as a fourteen-track bootleg album in 2009 under the fan-made title ''Quiet Storm''. Ellis-Bextor started a solo career in

major label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

artist-driven

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

music following the success of her collaboration with

Spiller Cristiano Spiller (born 3 April 1975) is an Italian electronic music DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2000 single " Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song reached number-one in the UK, Australia, ...

on "

Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is a song by Italian electronic music producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Various versions of the single were later featured on the German reissue and som ...

" in 2000. Smith and Reeves were later involved with London

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band Friends of The Bride.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

*
Theaudience page
at Sophie-Online.net
Album review
{{Authority control English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Britpop groups Sophie Ellis-Bextor