
Lucky Soul were a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
six-piece pop band based in South East
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 ...
. Formed in 2005, the band consisted of Ali Howard on vocals, Andrew Laidlaw and Ivor Sims on guitars, Russell Grooms on bass and Paul Atkins on drums, and Art Terry on keys.
The band performed numerous live dates in the UK and overseas and, on 20 June 2007, were one of the first acts to perform at
The O2
The O2 (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, Town square, piazzas, ...
, as part of Greenwich Council's soft launch event. They also supported
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established ...
on his Dylanesque tour that same year. They have toured in Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Japan, the United States and Russia, where they performed at the
Kinotavr Film Festival
Kinotavr (), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival was an open film festival held in the resort town, resort city of Sochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukrain ...
in
Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...
.
After a seven-year hiatus, they announced their return with their third album, ''Hard Lines'', which was released on 11 August 2017.
History
The project began when Laidlaw was a university student in Scotland. He used a
sampler to produce electronic music that he likened to
The Avalanches
The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in Melbourne in 1997. They have released three studio albums, ''Since I Left You'' (2000), ''Wildflower (The Avalanches album), Wildflower'' (2016), and ''We Will Always Love You'' ...
and
Saint Etienne. After moving to London with Nathaniel Perkins, he recruited additional musicians including Sims. Following their departure, Howard joined after responding to a newspaper ad.
Their debut single "My Brittle Heart"/"Give Me Love", released in March 2006, was made Single of the Week by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper, who described it as featuring "melodies as colossal, memorable and irresistible as a stampede of elephants bearing down on your tent". In June of that year they released another single, "Lips Are Unhappy", now famed as the music for the Clas Ohlson TV ads in Sweden. The summer of 2006 also saw "Give Me Love" featured on
How Does It Feel To Be Loved?'s "Kids At The Club" compilation.
This was followed by an EP entitled "Ain't Never Been Cool" in early 2007. "Ain't Never Been Cool" achieved recognition by being featured on
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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ
Colin Murray
Colin Murray (born Colin Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. He has hosted the Channel 4 game show '' Countdown'' since 2022.
Born and raised in Dundonald, east of Belfast, Murray first trained and wor ...
's top 20 tracks of the year. A further single, "Add Your Light to Mine, Baby", was released on 26 March 2007 as a digital download, on CD and as a limited edition, hand-numbered vinyl, followed by "One Kiss Don't Make a Summer" in early September.
The band's debut album, ''
The Great Unwanted'', was released on 9 April 2007. Produced by
George Shilling
George Edward Shilling (born 1966 in Redbridge, London) is an English musician, record producer, composer and audio engineer. He is the son of Eric Shilling, formerly of the English National Opera and actress Erica Johns. He studied cello at t ...
, it had a five star review in ''
Metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
''
[http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/music/article.html?in_article_id=43783&in_page_id=25] and ''
The Independent on Sunday
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
'', four stars from both ''The Guardian'' and ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' and a further four star review in ''
Uncut'' magazine.
The group's second album, entitled ''
A Coming of Age'', was released on 15 April 2010. The song "Woah Billy!" was released digitally in April 2009. In January 2010, the band released a second song off the album, "White Russian Doll".
Their third album, entitled ''Hard Lines'', was released on 11 August 2017. The first single from the album, "No Ti Amo", was released in June 2017.
Discography
Singles
Albums
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
British musical sextets
English indie pop groups
English pop music groups
Musical groups established in 2005
Musical groups from the Royal Borough of Greenwich