Dubstar

Dubstar are a UK dance-pop band from Newcastle upon Tyne, active from 1994 to 2000. The group consists of Steve Hillier, Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood. Their music is generally associated with alternative dance, dream pop, electronic, indie pop and trip hop, and they are also tagged with britpop and pop.

Formation and style

Dubstar first appears under that name in 1994. Hillier provides floating synths, Wilkie plays chiming guitar and Blackwood sings lead vocals. Their sound draws comparisons with Pet Shop Boys, The Smiths and Kirsty MacColl, while the band also cites Cocteau Twins and One Dove among its main influences.

Albums and singles

The band’s debut album, Disgraceful, is released on Food Records in 1995 and becomes both a critical and commercial success. It includes four UK Top 40 singles: Stars, Not So Manic Now, The Day I See You Again and a version of Billy Bragg’s St Swithin’s Day. Stars becomes their best-known track, while Not So Manic Now becomes a regular radio favourite. The Day I See You Again is a ballad about a broken relationship and is later covered by Claudia Brücken and Bon Bob Club. Their female-led version of St Swithin’s Day attracts music press attention, and an instrumental version is used as the theme for BBC coverage of Euro '96.

The follow-up album, Goodbye, appears two years later and produces three more UK Top 40 singles, including No More Talk, which becomes a number one radio hit in the UK. Both early albums are produced by Stephen Hague.

Later releases

Make It Better is released in 2000 and includes Self Same Thing, described as a fan favourite and the band’s last single for Food Records. A compilation, Stars…the best of Dubstar, follows on EMI in 2004. After a long break, the group announces new recording in 2012 and works again with Stephen Hague on a fourth album.