The Scottish singer-songwriter-musician, and was once described as “the voice of God”, Elizabeth Davidson Fraser, turned 62 today.
Best known as the vocalist for Cocteau Twins, Liz Fraser was born and grew up in Grangemouth, Scotland. She asked to join Cocteau Twins after the founders Robin Guthrie and Will Heggie spotted her dancing at a club in 1981. At the time, she was 17 years old, and had never thought of herself as a singer.
Together with Cocteau Twins, Fraser has earned critical praise for their distinctive ethereal sound and her soprano vocals yet pioneered dream pop. Fraser’s lyrics often abandoned recognisable language.
After signing with 4AD, Cocteau Twins released their debut album Garlands in 1982. Their road to fame was paved via “Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops” from The Spangle Maker EP which released in 1984. The single peaking at no. 29 on the UK Singles Chart. They received international attention when they released Heaven or Las Vegas in 1990.
Since the breakup of Cocteau Twins in 1997, Fraser has sporadically collaborated with a range of performers, including Massive Attack, The Future Sound of London, Craig Armstrong, and Peter Gabriel.
In November 2000, Fraser released a single in a limited edition “Underwater”, 200 copies only.
The music video here, Liz Fraser duetted with Jeff Buckley (they had an intense personal relationship for some time), “All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun”, recorded sometime around 1995-1996. Buckley wrote the song but never released commercially. Fraser was upset about this song being released, she said it “wasn’t finished”.
Co-là breith sona dhut, Liz Fraser!
• Read also SLOWDIVE – GOLDEN HAIR.
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Text via Wikipedia and AllMusic.
Featured image via NME.
