Balloon were an early 1990s music duo from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, consisting of Ian Bickerton and David Sheppard. Their first album, ''

Gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

'', was released in 1992 by

Dedicated Records Dedicated was a British independent record label that released music between 1990 and 1998 by Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, Global Communication, Beth Orton (in the U.S.), Chapterhouse (band), Chapterhouse, Cranes (band), Cranes and others. It was ...

, a British record label known for

neo-psychedelia Neo-psychedelia is a genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the music production approaches and songwriting of 1960s psychedelia, either exploring emulations of the sounds of the era or applying its ethos to new styles of music ...

.Jenkins, Mark.
Balloon Floating On Jazzy 'Gravity'
,

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

, 26 June 1992, p. N16.

Biography

Bickerton and Sheppard met in 1988. They recorded more than 60 demo tracks before they were signed by

. Critic Eve Zibart of ''

'' described the band's music as "a peculiarly soothing mix of Feargal Sharkey, Storyville, white soul, mild social unrest punk and Leonard Cohen." Jae-Ha Kim of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' wrote, "Balloon's music is atmospheric and winsome, with acoustic guitars caressing velvety voices." Their first album, ''

'', was released in 1992. Produced by

Michael Brook Michael Brook (born 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, music producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores. His collaborations with musicians around the worl ...

, the record featured contributions from

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing (album), Surfacing'' (1997), for which she won two G ...

(on the track "Tightrope Walker") and James Pinker. Bickerton wrote the music and lyrics, while Sheppard played all sorts of instruments. The album was recorded mostly in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, at

Daniel Lanois Daniel Roland Lanois ( , ; born September 19, 1951) is a Canadian record producer and musician. He has produced albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Robertson, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, and Harold Budd ...

' studio. The duo toured the US in 1992,Lozaw, Tristram. "Balloon bursting on scene with 'station-wagon' tour", ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'', 1992-06-26, p. S16. with percussionist James Pinker as a touring member.Augusto, Troy J. (August 1992). "Sarah Mclachlan; Balloon", ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' review database. Balloon supported Bill Hicks on his final UK tour, including performing at the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, on Dec 1st 1992. Balloon played one-off shows for Violette Societa at the Social, London WC1, in November 2016, and Leaf, Liverpool, in November 2022. In late 2024, Balloon released Gas 'n' Air, a new LP recorded in Mexico City.

References

English musical duos Dedicated Records artists English neo-psychedelia groups Rock music groups from London English rock music duos {{UK-band-stub