Lisa O'Neill and Emma Anderson met via a mutual friend in mid-1997, and in early 1998 record their first demo as Sing-Sing, with
Justin Welch of
Elastica on drums. A second demo prompted
Simon Raymonde and
Robin Guthrie to release "Feels Like Summer" as a single on their
Bella Union label in October 1998. After having a track on a split single in 1999, they started their own label, Aerial, through which they released their next two singles, "I'll Be" and a re-recorded "Feels Like Summer", in 2000. It was described as a "divine first album" by
AllMusic and a "strong debut album" by
PopMatters. It was released in the US in 2002 by
Manifesto Records. Second album
Sing-Sing and I followed in 2005, and was again well received by critics. Caroline Sullivan, reviewing it for
The Guardian gave it 3 stars out of 5, while
PopMatters gave it 6 out of 10. Both the band's albums were produced by O'Neill's former colleague in Locust,
Mark Van Hoen, but they also collaborated with the
Mad Professor (remixed "I'll Be" in a
lovers rock style),
Robin Guthrie of
Cocteau Twins, cellist and string-arranger
Audrey Riley, Poppy Gonzalez, former pianist
Mojave 3,
Tim Keegan (
Departure Lounge vocalist) and 4AD artist
Vinny Miller. Live musicians for touring included Michael Scrivens a.k.a. Shifty (bass), Poppy Gonzalez (piano, keys, percussion, backing vocals), Miguel Morland (drums 1998–2000), Jenny Jones (trumpet and keyboards), Darren Groucutt (drums 2000–2002), and Dominic del Torto (guitarist and backing vocalist 2005–2006). and sings with the band Lost Remnants. Anderson took part in the Lush reformation 2015-16 and released her debut solo album
Pearlies on 20 October 2023 on the Sonic Cathedral label, having made videos for the singles "Bend the Round", "Clusters" and "The Presence" prior. ==Discography==