Elizabeth Fraser

Wikipedia:

Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish singer best known as the vocalist for the pioneer alternative rock group Cocteau Twins. Described by critic Jason Ankeny as "an utterly unique performer whose swooping, operatic vocals relied less on any recognizable language than on the subjective sounds and textures of verbalized emotions," Fraser's distinctive singing earned much critical praise. She was once described as "the voice of God." Fraser's lyrics range from straight forward English to semi-comprehensible sentences and abstract mouth music. For some recordings, she used foreign words without knowing what they meant – the words acquired meaning for her only as she sung them. Fraser has a soprano vocal range. She is as well known for her voice as her perfectionism and reclusive nature.

Music career

Fraser and Cocteau Twins

Fraser was the vocalist and lyricist in Cocteau Twins, a group founded in 1981 by Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie. At the time, she was 17 years old, and had never thought of herself as a singer. Guthrie and Heggie noticed her dancing at a club one night, and asked her to join their band. After an on-off phase, the band recorded some tracks which were sent as demos to John Peel and Ivo Watts-Russell of 4AD which led to their being signed by the London-based label and a successful career in music. Fraser and Guthrie formed a relationship, and had a daughter, Lucy Belle, in 1989. Guthrie liberally used drugs and alcohol throughout the years they were together, and Fraser suffered a nervous breakdown during the recording of Four-Calendar Café. The couple broke up in 1992, still opting to continue a musical relationship until 1998, when Cocteau Twins were disbanded.

Fraser had an intense personal relationship with singer Jeff Buckley and recorded a duet with him, "All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun", written by Buckley but never released commercially. Perhaps suprisingly for someone reportedly very shy, she speaks candidly about their relationship in the BBC documentary, Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You.

Cocteau Twins were due to perform for the North American Coachella Festival on 30 April 2005, but cancelled on 16 March 2005. The decision to cancel was taken by Fraser reportedly because of the emotional distress it caused her. Her former Cocteau Twins bandmate Simon Raymonde has since talked publicly about the decision saying that while he respected it, he regretted not being able to walk away with "£1.5 million ($2.5 million) tax-free." Fraser has not commented on what she would have been paid.

During the years of working as part of Cocteau Twins, Fraser also collaborated with numerous artists, appearing on 4AD house band This Mortal Coil's first release along with her bandmates where her notable contributions included a cover version of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren", and providing one-off vocals for acts such as Felt (Primitive Painters), Dif Juz (Extractions LP), the Future Sound of London (Lifeforms EP), the Wolfgang Press, Ian McCulloch and others.

Post-Cocteau Twins

After the breakup of Cocteau Twins in 1998, Fraser continued to collaborate with a range of performers, including The Future Sound of London, Elliot Goldenthal, Craig Armstrong, Massive Attack (including extensive tours performing with the band in 2006), and Peter Gabriel's millennium project OVO.

She has subsequently contributed to the soundtracks of several films, such as, In Dreams, Cruel Intentions, The Winter Guest and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (also uncredited in the soundtrack of the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition DVD), and has occasionally appeared as a guest artist on other musicians' projects. In 2005, she also participated in Yann Tiersen's album Les Retrouvailles. She sings in two pieces: "Kala" and "Mary".

Solo career

Aside from the work with other artists, Fraser's solo career has been quiet. In 2000, a white label recording, Underwater, was released in a limited edition of only 200 copies. She contributed a cover version of "At Last I am Free" (originally by '70s band Chic, covered by Robert Wyatt) on the 2003 album Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before, a celebration of 25 year of Rough Trade Records.

In 2004, Fraser was invited to participate in a unique audio exhibit, "Shhh...", at London's Victoria and Albert Museum for which she produced a piece called "Expectant Mood", which has not been made commercially available.

Fraser reportedly signed to Blanco y Negro Records, but little is known about the progress of any recorded material.

In December 2006 New Music Express magazine reported that Elizabeth Fraser's solo album was due for release in early 2007. The album would have contained eight tracks, one of which was to be a cover version. No titles were announced and the album was never released. Its current status is unknown.

In November 2009 Fraser released a solo single, '"Moses", available on 12" and download through Rough Trade. The single was recorded some time ago with her partner of more than a decade – Massive Attack's drummer Damon Reece, and close friend Jake Drake-Brockman - and was a memorial to Jake Drake-Brockman.

In May 2012 in an exclusive report The Guardian confirmed that Elizabeth Fraser will play two dates as part of the Meltdown Festival at London's Southbank Centre in August 2012, curated by Antony Hegarty. In that article, Fraser confirmed that she has assembled an album's worth of material and will showcase these at the event in addition to performing re-interpretations of some of the Cocteau Twins songs. Fraser also referred to the physical exertion involved in her singing against the wall of sound in many of the Cocteau Twins songs, of which she said it was "like an endurance test. I don't intend to do that again. I've been using my voice more gently." Antony Hegarty referred to Fraser agreeing to perform as "unprecedented" and said further "that's going to be probably one of the centerpieces of the festival, Liz Fraser doing two nights. It's a really, really big deal." Hegarty also described Fraser as one of the artists who "have used their platforms as cultural producers to challenge us . . . "

Website

The official website Elizabethfraser.com was initially created by a fan, but was taken over by Fraser's management company on 22 March 2007. As of 30 November 2009 (2009 -11-30), the new site content is updated with news on the release for the new single "Moses".

Personal life

Elizabeth Fraser was born in Grangemouth. She lives with her partner, musician Damon Reece (from the band Lupine Howl), in Bristol. She has two daughters, Lucy Belle Guthrie, her daughter by Robin Guthrie, and Lily, her daughter by Damon Reece.