The Modern are a British

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

band. They are currently signed to Ninth Wave Records in the United States and EQ Music in Asia. The band consists of vocalist Emma Cooke, with Nathan Cooper and Chi Tudor-Hart on vocals and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

s. The band changed their name from Dirty Blonde to The Modern in 2003, and then on to Matinee Club in September 2006, before reverting to The Modern in November 2008.

History

The band first began to form in 2001. Fronted by Nathan Cooper and Chi Tudor-Hart, the group were then known as Dirty Blonde. In 2003, vocalist Emma Cooke joined the band, and they changed their name to The Modern. Following Cooke's induction to the group, guitarist Telee and drummer Rees also joined. Rees then left the band to tour with Dirty Vegas, and was replaced by Bob Malkowski shortly afterwards. It was not long after this that Telee left to concentrate on his own band. The Modern line up was completed, and the group started to write and perform together. They obtained got a recording contract in 2005, when they were signed to

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. Mercury Records released ...

. The band recorded several songs with

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Stephen Hague, with a view towards preparing for their debut album, which was tentatively going to be called 'Life in the Modern World'. The first of these songs was released as a single. "Jane Falls Down" received little airplay on

commercial radio Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

stations. but entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 4. The group followed this with their second single, "Industry" on 6 March 2006. The song airplay on the music video channels, but due to sales irregularities, the single was disqualified from the UK Singles Chart. The band conducted UK wide tours supporting these singles. They also played the 2005

Reading and Leeds Festivals The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Fest ...

and the October 2005 Whitby Gothic Weekend, as well as the 2006 Elektrofest. In July 2006, they performed at Pride Rally's 'Prides Against Prejudice' in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

. In September 2006, it was announced on the group's forum that they had parted company with Mercury Records, and that Malkowski and Robert James had left the band. The trio continued as Matinee Club. They signed to a new

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, Planet Clique and, in March 2007, the song "Discotheque Francais" was issued through the record label's website. Months later the band had changed record labels once again, this time moving onto

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

under Europa Recordings, although this was short-lived as Europa Recordings was closed down. In October the group transferred back to Planet Clique for the digital release of "Discotheque Francais". The debut album, ''Modern Industry'', was made available to download in December. It included a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

's " Modern Love". In January 2008, the group released ''The Modern LP'' through Ninth Wave Records, albeit only in the US. It differed from the later UK release. Matinee Club recorded a video for the American global warming awareness show, Earth Hour. In November 2008, the group reformed as The Modern, and the drummer Rees returned to the band. Signing another record deal that covered most of Asia, the band released a double album, under the same title as their US LP, in July 2009.

Discography

Albums

*''Modern Industry'' (January 2008) (UK) (download only) *''Matinee Club Present The Modern LP'' (January 2008) (US) *''The Modern LP'' (double album) (July 2009) (Asia, US and UK)

Singles

*"Industry" (download only) *"Jane Falls Down" – (Mercury 9874798, November 2005) No. 35 UK *"Industry" – (Mercury 9877068, March 2006) *'Seven Oceans' (cancelled) *"Discotheque Francais" – (Planet Clique SSMCD004, March 2007) *"Discotheque Francais" (October 2007) *'Sometimes' (cancelled)

EPs

*"Eastern Bloc" (download only) *"The Dirty Blonde" – (Ninth Wave, US December 2007) his release changed to ''The Modern LP'' listed above

Compilations

*''Robopop 'The Return (December 2006 – Lucy Pierre – Planet Clique Records)

References

External links

The Modern official siteThe Modern/Matinee Club MySpace profileIlikemusic.comHolytoilet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Modern (Band), The English synth-pop groups Musical groups established in 2001