Echobelly are a British/Swedish indie band. They were brought to prominence after much praise by singer Morrissey who asked them to be the opening act on his tour. Singer Sonya's vocal style has also been compared to Morrissey's. They briefly peaked during the Britpop craze of the mid-1990s.

The original lineup consisted of:

• Sonya Aurora Madan (vocals)
• Glenn Johansson (guitar)
• Debbie Smith (guitar)
• Alex Keyser (bass)
• Andy Henderson (drums)

Keyser was replaced by James Harris after their second album.

Discography

The band have produced five albums:

• Everyone's Got One
• On
• Lustra
• People Are Expensive
• Gravity Pulls

There is also a best-of album, I Can't Imagine The World Without Me.

Lyrically, the band were very much a product of their time, using upbeat pop/rock as the backdrop for a lyrical intensity and diversity rarely seen in the British Charts since the Britpop era. Their first single, Bellyache, released in 1993, dealt with the emotional fall-out of abortion; songs also typically dealt with issues of equality, particularly racial and sexual, and many songs appeared to rally against lad culture. This led the band, and especially Madan, to be closely associated with the British music press driven 'riot grrl' sub-culture within the britpop scene.

External links

• Echobelly official site
• Echobelly's site at Myspace Music
• More - an Echobelly fanzine

Peel Sessions artists

Echobelly