| Kosheen | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Bristol, England |
| Genre: | Trip hop, breakbeat, alternative rock, electronic, drum and bass |
| Years Active: | 1999–present |
| Label: | Breakbeat Culture (1999–2001, 2012–2017) Moksha Recordings (2000–2010) Sony BMG (2001–2004) Universal (2007–2010) |
| Website: | www.kosheen.live |
| Past Members: | Markee Ledge |
Kosheen are a British electronic music group based in Bristol, United Kingdom. The group consist of singer-songwriter Sian Evans, songwriter-producer Ron Mcelroy and drummer Mitchell Glover. The name Kosheen derives from the name of a North American Apache warrior, Cochise.[1] In Japan, it was discovered that a combination of the Japanese words for "old" (古, romanised transliteration "ko") and "new" (新, "shin") would make "Kosheen" in Japanese.
Their first album, Resist, was released in September 2001 on Moksha Recordings/BMG and reached number eight in the UK album chart.
Their second album, Kokopelli—released in August 2003 on Moksha Recordings/Sony and named after a mythical Native American spirit—focused less on drum and bass beats and more on guitar riffs and darker-toned lyrics. It outperformed its predecessor in the UK album chart by reaching number seven, and the single "All In My Head" also reached number seven, but it did not sell as well as its predecessor.
Their third album, Damage, was released in Europe via Moksha/Universal Germany in March 2007. The UK edition of Damage, featuring two new tracks—"Analogue Street Dub" and "Professional Friend" (not included on the European edition)—was released via Moksha Recordings in September 2007.
The first single from Damage was "Overkill", released in March (Europe) and August (UK) 2007.
In 2010, Kosheen set up their own label, Skeleton, with its first release, "Warning", released on 27 September. On 19 December 2010, they posted the first track, "Belladonna", from Independence, on their Facebook page, along with three more tracks ("Waste", "Enter" and "You Don't Own Me") on their Soundcloud page.
On 25 October 2011, fresh from the success of Sian Evans collaboration with DJ Fresh "Louder" which had reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in July, Kosheen confirmed an album release in May 2012, and a single, titled "Get a New One", on 13 February. The second single, "Holding On", features Susie Ledge as the guest vocalist. An announcement was made by the band on their official website that Independence would be released at the end of September 2012. It was released on 1 October 2012. "Mannequin" was later released as the third single from the album. Other songs on the album include "Waste", "Spies", "Addict" and "Tightly".
On 8 November 2013, Kosheen debuted a video for the song "Harder They Fall" as an introduction to their fifth studio album, Solitude.[2] Four days later, the band uploaded the artwork to Solitude along with a release date of 25 November 2013.[3]
In 2019 the band reunited and started touring.[4] No plans have been announced for new albums.
In September 2015, Markee Ledge announced he was releasing a solo album, Elevate, featuring Susie Ledge on the title track.[5] [6]
As of 2017, the members were working on their solo projects.[7]
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] | AUS [9] | AUT [10] | BEL [11] | GER [12] | NL [13] | FIN [14] | SWI [15] | US Elec. [16] | ||||
| 2001 | Resist | 8 | 29 | 18 | 8 | 45 | 25 | 36 | — | 15 |
Platinum[17] | |
| 2003 | Kokopelli
| 7 | 67 | 6 | 10 | 16 | — | — | 30 | 40 |
| |
| 2007 | Damage
| 95 | — | 18 | 75 | 48 | — | — | 23 | 35 | ||
| 2012 | Independence
| — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | 41 | — | ||
| 2013 | Solitude
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [19] | AUS | AUT | BEL (FLA) | GER | FIN | NED | SWE [20] | US Dance | |||
| 1999 | "Yes Men" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles |
| "Dangerous Waters" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000 | "Hide U" / "Empty Skies" | 73 | 78 | — | 3 | — | — | 5 | — | — | Resist |
| "Catch" / "Demonstrate" | 94 | — | — | 5 | — | — | 20 | — | — | ||
| 2001 | "(Slip & Slide) Suicide" | 50 | — | — | 34 | — | — | 80 | — | — | |
| "Hide U" (Remix) | 6 | 23 | — | — | 77 | — | — | 39 | 15 | ||
| "Catch" (re-release) | 15 | 27 | — | — | 19 | 13 | — | 52 | 22 | ||
| 2002 | "Hungry" | 13 | 53 | — | 68 | 79 | 10 | — | — | — | |
| "Harder" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003 | "All in My Head" | 7 | 37 | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | 18 | Kokopelli |
| "Wasting My Time" | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Avalanche" (download only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2007 | "Overkill (Is It Over Now?)" | — | — | 60 | — | 70 | — | — | — | — | Damage |
| "Guilty" (European download only) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012 | "Get a New One" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Independence |
| "Holding On" (feat. Susie Ledge) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| "Mannequin" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Independence | |
| "Addict" | — | — | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013 | "Harder They Fall" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Solitude |
| Year | Single | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Hide U" | Jason Smith |
| "Catch" | Jeff Thomas | |
| "Hide U" (US version) | ||
| "(Slip & Slide) Suicide" | Cody Burridge | |
| 2002 | "Hungry" | |
| "Harder" | Sven Harding | |
| 2003 | "All in My Head" | |
| "Wasting My Time" | Mike Lipscombe | |
| "Catch" (BCDJ's Lounge Mix) | Jeff Thomas | |
| 2007 | "Overkill" | |
| "Guilty" | ||
| 2012 | "Get a New One" | Global Fire |
| "Holding On" | ||
| "Mannequin" | Global Fire | |
| 2013 | "Harder They Fall" | Global Fire |