About Moloko

Moloko is a suspended Sheffield, UK, trip-hop / electropop band, founded by Mark Brydon (b. Sunderland, UK) and Róisín Murphy (b. Arklow, IE), in 1995. It débuted with Moloko EP (May 1995, Echo) / album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? (Sept 1995, Echo) and the latest studio album is Statues (Mar 2003, Echo). They met at a Sheffield party, when Murphy had no prior professional singing experience. Meanwhile, Brydon had thirteen-year musical résumé, first with Chakk / Hula pioneering EBM (then, aka big beat). Subsequently, within dance music, he formed / produced / remixed pop / house acts, e.g. producing Krush's hit "House Arrest" (1987, FON) and his 1993 Cloud Nine project. Murphy approached Brydon with chat-up line "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!" - hence their début album's title. 'Moloko' originates from the Nadsat slang for "milk" (from the Russian, молоко), in Anthony Burgess novel "A Clockwork Orange". Recorded while the pair were dating, Do You Like My Tight Sweater? gained notice on underground dance and trip-hop scenes, then more so with I Am Not a Doctor (Jul 1998, Echo). The later yielded Sing It Back (Mar 1999), which broke Moloko into the mainstream. Remixed by house producer Boris Dlugosch, Sing It Back (Boris Musical Mix) (Jul 1999), was a massive Ibiza hit and entered the top-five of 1999 weekly UK singles charts, helped by a psychedelic video featuring the attractive Murphy in a very short metallic flapper dress and cap. "Sing It Back" was eventually featured on 110 music compilations. Dlugosch's remix is also appears on faux radio station Rise FM, in the action-adventure game "GTA: Liberty City Stories" (2005, Rockstar Games). In 2000 Moloko started touring as a full band along with percussionist Paul Slowly, keyboardist Eddie Stevens, and guitarist Dave Cook. The band also had chart success with The time is now, the first single from the third album, Things to Make and Do. This album had relied less on the leftfield beats of the previous albums, and featured more organic instrumentation. Murphy and Brydon ended their relationship in 2001. After their breakup they recorded and released their fourth and final studio album, Statues, in 2003. Statues continued a segue into more traditional instrumentation, along with electronica elements from their earlier releases. Statues incorporated the theme of the couple's split: all of the songs deal with a troubled and/or ending romance. In 2004 Moloko released a live DVD, 11,000 Clicks, recorded on stage at the Brixton Academy. It contained many of their well known songs including "Indigo", "Sing It Back", and "The Time Is Now". After concluding the tour supporting Statues, Moloko mutually parted ways, with Róisín Murphy launching a solo career. A "best of" album, Catalogue, was released in 2006. Murphy and Brydon, along with long-time Moloko guitarist Dave Cook, played a select number of acoustic radio performances to promote the album. Since 2006 they have been on an indefinite hiatus. Sites: Moloko.co.UK (official).