Datchler left Johnny Hates Jazz in 1988 at the height of his fame. He moved to Amsterdam and began work on a solo album called
Raindance. The album featured other musicians, including bass player
Nathan East, drummer
John "JR" Robinson and percussionist
Paulinho Da Costa. Also featured was guitarist
Dave Gregory of
XTC. The album saw Datchler's first environmental song, "Raindance" – one of several to follow. The first single from
Raindance was "
Crown of Thorns". It was released in the UK in 1990 but was not a success. Despite this, a music video was recorded for the single, although it is unknown who produced the video. The
Raindance album was released on Virgin Records in Japan shortly afterwards. In 1991, Datchler went back into the studio to record some tracks with
Rupert Hine, producer of
Tina Turner,
the Fixx and
Howard Jones. The new album was titled
Fishing for Souls. However, when the relationship between Virgin Records and Datchler deteriorated further, he left the label.
Fishing for Souls was not officially released by Virgin, but was eventually made available as a bootleg. Around this time, Datchler also released a remixed version of "
The Last Emotion" under the name Medicine Wheel. The song was released on 7" as a single, but it was also released as a CD with "Close to the Edge" and "Autumn Years" in the tracklist in 1992 on Virgin Records, around the same time that
Fishing for Souls was completed. By the mid-1990s, Datchler had moved back to Britain where he based himself at
Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios outside the city of
Bath. There, he taught himself to play the bouzouki, drums and percussion, and refined his abilities as a pianist, keyboard player, bassist and guitarist. He also began to experiment with combining world and folk instruments with contemporary instruments and modern grooves. The recordings he made at Real World eventually led to the beginning of the writing and recording of the album
Tomorrow. At the same time, Datchler studied the philosophy of indigenous peoples. He became a Green Party member, and focused his songwriting skills on social issues that concerned him. In 1998, Datchler signed a music publishing deal with
BMG Music. In the 2000s, Datchler based himself in the U.S. He decided to make an album with an environmental theme, and consequently began work on
Tomorrow. He played many of the instruments on the album as well as producing, engineering and mixing. He invited several notable musicians to record with him, including Phil Gould (drummer of
Level 42), David Rhodes (guitarist with
Peter Gabriel), James McNally (Irish whistle and bodhran player of Afro Celt Sound System), Hugh Marsh (fiddle player with
Loreena McKennitt), Phil Beer (mandolin player of
Show of Hands) and Joji Hirota (shakuhachi player). He recorded much of the 12-track album in a state-of-the-art studio powered by solar energy. One of the songs was a new recording of his first hit with Johnny Hates Jazz, "Shattered Dreams". The completed version of
Tomorrow was released on InterAction Music in May 2007. This album was originally released under the pseudonym of Nightfoxx, but Datchler subsequently returned to recording and performing under his original name. In 2009, it was remixed by Stephen W Tayler, and digitally remastered and re-released. In 2009, Datchler acquired the rights to the album. It was remixed by Tayler, digitally remastered and in 2010 it was released on Datchler's own label, Interaction Music. Datchler also signed a music publishing deal with Stage Three Music, part of
BMG Rights Management. Datchler rejoined Johnny Hates Jazz in late 2009, and in 2010 they played live shows in Europe and Southeast Asia. In October 2010, Datchler received a
BMI Film & TV Award in recognition of "Shattered Dreams" achieving over three million broadcast performances in the U.S. alone. He subsequently started working with Mike Nocito on the Johnny Hates Jazz album,
Magnetized, which was published in 2013, followed by a few live concerts in 2014. In 2016 and 2017, he co-wrote eight songs on the
Mike and the Mechanics album,
Let Me Fly. ==Recent work==