Scarlet's Well
Encyclopedia
Scarlet's Well are a British
pop band formed in 1998 by Bid of The Monochrome Set
, after the latter band amicably split for the second time.
They originally started as a studio project, the first four albums featuring a total of ten lead vocalists, including Bid (the only male voice), Zarif
and Alice Healey, the latter being the only member other than Bid who has appeared on all albums, and is still in the group.
A live band was formed at the beginning of 2004, with the help of Dickon Edwards
, who appeared as lead guitarist at the first gig. Since then, they have been through various line-up changes with the current members listed below.
Using a wide range of instruments on the albums ("rock", folk and orchestral), the music has been variously described as "gypsy folk to English psychedelic rock", "hybrid English pop and Baroque music", "a rich, lush and densely layered confection", and "sprightly guitar pop".
Conceptually "an ongoing and open-ended musical", set partly in a fictitious village in South West England
called Mousseron ("a sickly village situated somewhere east of the Azores, and only slightly north of the Styx", many of the songs are "richly-textured, well-spun yarns driven by a cast of colourful eccentrics", yet "the songs still function as pop in the sweetest sense".
Though most of the material has been written by Bid, collaborators have included Alex Kapranos
("The Spell" on the "Strange Letters" album) and David Shrigley
("Maybe", though this song only appeared on his "Worried Noodles" album); past and present members of the band have also contributed, with some lyrics made of poems by Christina Rossetti
, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Edgar Allan Poe
.
A few of the songs are supposed to have been material never completed by The Monochrome Set
("Miss Twinkle's Been On Holiday Again", "Why Do Spirits Haunt Ruby Auburn?", "My Little Doll", "Piepentube"), and "Walking With The Beast" (from "Dante's Casino") was re-recorded for "The Dream Spider of the Laughing Horse".
All the studio albums have been released by the Spanish
label Siesta Records, in the digipak format with a 16-page colour booklet, "lavishly illustrated" with "exquisite artwork which fits in perfectly with the gothic fantasy"
To date, the band have released the following albums:
Previous members include Martin White (The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra, solo music & comedy), Dickon Edwards
(Fosca
), Kate Dornan (Fosca
and The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra), Toby Robinson and Zarif
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
pop band formed in 1998 by Bid of The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
, after the latter band amicably split for the second time.
They originally started as a studio project, the first four albums featuring a total of ten lead vocalists, including Bid (the only male voice), Zarif
Zarif
Zarif Davidson, known professionally as Zarif, is a British singer-songwriter of Scottish-Iranian-Jewish descent whose music ranges from soul to funk to pop. She performs with a nine piece band and sometimes plays keyboard and guitar.-Biography:...
and Alice Healey, the latter being the only member other than Bid who has appeared on all albums, and is still in the group.
A live band was formed at the beginning of 2004, with the help of Dickon Edwards
Dickon Edwards
Dickon Edwards is a London-based indie pop musician, writer, critic, DJ and online diarist. Although his parents named him Richard Edwards, they also chose to call him by the archaic derivative of Richard, "Dickon"...
, who appeared as lead guitarist at the first gig. Since then, they have been through various line-up changes with the current members listed below.
Using a wide range of instruments on the albums ("rock", folk and orchestral), the music has been variously described as "gypsy folk to English psychedelic rock", "hybrid English pop and Baroque music", "a rich, lush and densely layered confection", and "sprightly guitar pop".
Conceptually "an ongoing and open-ended musical", set partly in a fictitious village in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
called Mousseron ("a sickly village situated somewhere east of the Azores, and only slightly north of the Styx", many of the songs are "richly-textured, well-spun yarns driven by a cast of colourful eccentrics", yet "the songs still function as pop in the sweetest sense".
Though most of the material has been written by Bid, collaborators have included Alex Kapranos
Alex Kapranos
Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley , commonly known as Alex Kapranos, is a United Kingdom-based musician who is the lead singer and the guitarist of the Glasgow band Franz Ferdinand.-Early life:...
("The Spell" on the "Strange Letters" album) and David Shrigley
David Shrigley
-Life and career:Shrigley was born in Macclesfield on 17 September 1968, the younger of two children born to Rita and Joseph Shrigley. Shrigley grew up in Oadby, Leicestershire, England...
("Maybe", though this song only appeared on his "Worried Noodles" album); past and present members of the band have also contributed, with some lyrics made of poems by Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems...
, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
A few of the songs are supposed to have been material never completed by The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set
The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
("Miss Twinkle's Been On Holiday Again", "Why Do Spirits Haunt Ruby Auburn?", "My Little Doll", "Piepentube"), and "Walking With The Beast" (from "Dante's Casino") was re-recorded for "The Dream Spider of the Laughing Horse".
All the studio albums have been released by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
label Siesta Records, in the digipak format with a 16-page colour booklet, "lavishly illustrated" with "exquisite artwork which fits in perfectly with the gothic fantasy"
To date, the band have released the following albums:
- Strange Letters (1999)
- The Isle of the Blue Flowers (2000)
- Alice in the Underworld (2002)
- The Dream Spider of the Laughing Horse (2004)
- Unreal (live and studio, with musicians from other bands) (2006)
- Black Tulip Wings (2006)
- Gatekeeper (2008)
- Unreal II (live and studio, with musicians from other bands, Red Velvet Records) (2010)
- Society of Figurines (2010)
Members
- Bid - guitar/vocals (The Monochrome SetThe Monochrome SetThe Monochrome Set are an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
) - Alice Healey - vocals
- Jennifer Denitto - drums/vocals (Linus, The Low Edges)
- Peter MomtchiloffPeter MomtchiloffPeter Momtchiloff is a British guitarist and bassist. He was educated at Winchester College and Worcester College, Oxford....
- guitar (Talulah GoshTalulah GoshTalulah Gosh were a guitar-pop group from Oxford, England and one of the leading bands of the twee pop movement, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan. They supposedly formed when Amelia Fletcher and Elizabeth Price, both wearing Pastels badges, met at a club in...
, HeavenlyHeavenly (British band)Heavenly were a 1990s twee pop band, originally forming in Oxford, England in 1989. Amelia Fletcher , Mathew Fletcher , Peter Momtchiloff and Robert Pursey had all been members of Talulah Gosh, a key member of the C86 scene.-History:Heavenly debuted with the 7" single "I Fell in Love Last...
, Would-be-goodsWould-be-goodsWould-be-goods are a British indie pop band fronted by singer Jessica Griffin, noted for her precise received pronunciation accent when singing . Their name was inspired by the 1899 adventure story by children's author E...
) - Helena Johansson - violin/mandolin
- Deb Van Der Geugten - bass (Linus)
- Sian Chaffer - keyboards/vocals
Previous members include Martin White (The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra, solo music & comedy), Dickon Edwards
Dickon Edwards
Dickon Edwards is a London-based indie pop musician, writer, critic, DJ and online diarist. Although his parents named him Richard Edwards, they also chose to call him by the archaic derivative of Richard, "Dickon"...
(Fosca
Fosca
Fosca was a British band, combining indie pop songwriting with synth pop instrumentation. They released a total of three studio albums between 2000-2008...
), Kate Dornan (Fosca
Fosca
Fosca was a British band, combining indie pop songwriting with synth pop instrumentation. They released a total of three studio albums between 2000-2008...
and The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra), Toby Robinson and Zarif
Zarif
Zarif Davidson, known professionally as Zarif, is a British singer-songwriter of Scottish-Iranian-Jewish descent whose music ranges from soul to funk to pop. She performs with a nine piece band and sometimes plays keyboard and guitar.-Biography:...
.
Links
- http://www.scarletswell.co.uk - the band's official website
- http://www.myspace.com/scarletswell - the band's page on MySpace
- http://www.siesta.es/ - Siesta Records, the band's record label