Swallow were a British-based duo of Mike Mason and Louise Trehy.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 1017 Signed to

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

, they only released one studio album and one remix collection before leaving the label. They moved on to

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...

for a further EP before disbanding.

History

Mike Mason had previously played as a live keyboard player for Into Paradise, while Louise Trehy had founded record label Setanta with Keith Cullen. Mike Mason had also directed and produced promotional video for

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of " ...

. They were signed by 4AD after sending a demo to the label. The band released their debut album ''Blow'' in July 1992. Initially compared with

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instru ...

and My Bloody Valentine,Abebe, Nitsuh " ''Blow'' Review,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, retrieved 2010-09-25 the band remixed the ''Blow'' album to break down the

John Fryer John Fryer may refer to: *John Fryer (physician) (died 1563), English physician, humanist and early reformer *John Fryer (physician, died 1672), English physician *John Fryer (travel writer) (1650–1733), British travel-writer and doctor *Sir John ...

production, creating the limited edition follow-up release ''Blowback''.Ferguson, Jason
Swallow
, ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'', retrieved 2010-09-25 After relationships with 4AD broke down, Swallow began writing and recording at home. A newly funded Rough Trade records released the four track EP ''Hush'', which included a cover of Steve Miller's "Dear Mary". Around the time of the EP's release in 1994, Swallow briefly toured with

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal. Mazzy St ...

. The Chemical Brothers sampled Swallow for their track "One Too Many Mornings". In the middle of recording their second full-length album, Rough Trade lost their funding, and Swallow's recording efforts were in tatters. By this point, Mike Mason and Louise Trehy's relationship ended, and Swallow quietly disbanded. Louise Trehy left the music industry altogether, but Mike Mason continues with musical endeavours. Currently, Mason works with music, film and photography, and has directed music videos for

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pie ...

Slowdive Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...

, and

The Mekons The Mekons are a British band formed in the late 1970s as an art collective. They are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands. The band's style has evolved over time to incorporate aspects of ...

. Some of Mason's other music projects include Cowboy Racer, which features

Marijne van der Vlugt Marijne van der Vlugt (born 6 October 1965 in De Meije) is a Dutch musician, former model and MTV Europe VJ. She is the daughter of Dutch actor Bram van der Vlugt. Marijne started her career as a VJ for MTV Europe Central from London in the ear ...

from

Salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a v ...

; writing and producing with artists including

Boz Boorer Martin James "Boz" Boorer (born 19 May 1962 in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is an English guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group the Polecats; and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and ...

, Lettie, Jessie Grace, Peter Murphy (

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2 ...

); and

Dalis Car Dali's Car was a musical group formed in 1984 by Peter Murphy (vocalist), Mick Karn (bassist, keyboardist, guitarist, saxophonist) and Paul Vincent Lawford (rhythm construction). History One year after Bauhaus broke up, Murphy, after taking ...

proposed second album with

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. ...

. In 2014, Mason was working on a new project Superhand with Jessie Grace, Malt Barn recording have released a dubstep remix of the track "Discipline Me" by Rednek. A collection of incomplete home recordings, titled ''Soft'', was released digitally in May 2009 on the White Lines (communications) label. Louise Trehy returned to music in March 2013, having posted three in-progress demos online: "Hang On", "Au Naturel" and "Stars". Shortly after, she signed to Saint Marie Recordsa Texas-based label that specializes in, but is not limited to, modern shoegaze and dream pop music. Working with Peter Pavli (Robert Calvert, Annette Peacock) as Strata Florida (meaning valley of the river of flowers) they released an album ''Made of Stars'' on 25 March 2014, which was well received; described as "...a full-throttle, Spectorish wall of sound pumped up to about 15. It’s as close to liturgical pop music as I’ve heard all year" 8.5/10.

Discography

Albums

*''Blow'' (July 20, 1992;

CAD 2010) *# "Lovesleep" – 4:57 *# "Tastes Like Honey" – 4:39 *# "Sugar Your Mind" – 4:02 *# "Mensurral" – 4:04 *# "Peekaboo" – 5:10 *# "Lacuna" – 2:21 *# "Oceans and Blue Skies" – 3:36 *# "Follow Me Down" – 4:49 *# "Halo" – 2:56 *# "Cherry Stars Collide" – 3:44 *# "Head in a Cave" – 6:36 *''Blowback'' (''Blow'' remixed and edited by the band – September 28, 1992; 4AD TAD 2015) *# "Oceans and Blue Skies" – 3:40 *# "Head in a Cave" – 7:09 *# "Tastes Like Honey" (Instrumental) – 3:58 *# "Peekaboo" (Dub) – 3:41 *# "Sugar Your Mind" – 4:26 *# "Follow Me Down" (Excerpt) – 1:36 *# "Mensurral" (Instrumental) – 5:08 *# "Cherry Stars Collide" (Instrumental) – 5:30 *''Soft'' (digital collection of 1994 home recordings – May 10, 2009; White Lines) *# "Holes" – 4:46 *# "Hush" – 4:39 *# "Just Another Feeling" – 4:08 *# "Blood to Water (Rain on Me)" – 4:02 *# "Tuneport" – 0:58 *# "Thrill Me Skinny" – 5:02 *# "Flooded" – 5:35 *# "Watching the Sun" – 6:00 *# "Julian" – 4:44 *# "Heavenly" – 4:42 *# "It's All Right" – 1:38 *# "Hang Ups" – 5:30 *# "Dear Mary" ( Steve Miller cover) – 4:25

EPs

*''Hush'' (June 19, 1994;

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

R3223) *# "Hush" – 4:38 *# "Flooded" – 6:39 *# "Watching the Sun" – 5:26 *# "Dear Mary" (Steve Miller cover) – 4:26

Compilations

Swallow tracks also appear on: :* "Lovesleep (vocal version)", ''Volume'' 4 compilation, 1992 :* "Oceans And Blue Skies" (video), ''4AD Presents The 13 Year Itch'' compilation, 1993 :* "Cherry Stars Collide", ''Joyride'' soundtrack, 1997

References

External links

Swallow's official websiteSwallow on 4AD's websiteSwallow's official MySpace pageSwallow at Discogs.com
{{Authority control 4AD artists Musical groups from London Shoegazing musical groups