Lavelle has provided Singer/Songwriter/Cellist/Producer services to many notable artists, including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Graham Parker, Peter Gabriel, Vangelis, Afro-Celt Sound System, etc.
Caroline Lavelle studied at the prestigious Royal College of Music in London but opted to forego the orchestral route. "I want to stand on my own devices, to make more of a difference than to be sitting halfway down in a cello section playing the same old things most of the time. The creativity involved in writing one's own music and having to marry lyrics and arrangements is much more challenging for me. My greatest love is writing."
Caroline's early musical influences were mostly classical but her work brings her into regular collaboration with a wide variety of musicians, a list which includes Radiohead, The Cranberries, Peter Gabriel, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Loreena McKennitt, Nigel Kennedy and Ryuichi Sakamoto, among others. She has recorded with Vangelis on his album "Voices" as well as with the French composer Hector Zazou. Recent projects include the soundtrack to the recent Ewan McGregor/Ashley Judd film, 'The Eye Of The Beholder' - perhaps not surprisingly, as the film itself was inspired by Lavelle's performance of "Home Of The Whale'" with Massive Attack.
It was "Home of The Whale" that also brought Lavelle to the attention of the producer William Orbit who was consequently inspired to produce and mix her debut solo album Spirit, thrusting her into the spotlight. The album launched her solo career and earnt her excellent reviews throughout the world. A December 1999 article in the UK's Sunday Times reported that it was Caroline's album which drew Madonna's attention and initiated the successful collaboration of William Orbit and Madonna.
Teldec now takes up the thread and looks forward to working with Caroline expanding her career as a solo singer, cellist and songwriter. Her contract begins with a follow-up album to the highly successful Spirit. Brilliant Midnight, released May 15, 2001, features Caroline's own songs, supported by musicians including Michael Nyman, Charlie May (Sasha, John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold), Clare Kenny and Carol Isaacs (Indigo Girls, Sinead O'Connor) and mixed by Stuart Bruce (Loreena McKennit, Sheila Chandra). Lavelle combines her dewdrop vocals with moody, atmospheric beats- evoking the likes of such other singer/songwriters as Beth Orton or Sarah McLachlan, or even Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl- on such blistering tracks as "All I Have" and "Farther Than The Sun." The album also features a special bonus track extended version of "All I Have," remixed by French DJ and producer Kid Loco.
2001 will see the production of a second album entitled Lost Voices, which sets Lavelle's own compositions for voice, cello and orchestra, to the works of World War I poets from Germany, France, Poland, Ireland, England, Armenia and Russia.
For additional information, contact Vera Sheps at Two Sheps That Pass at twoshepsthatpass@aol.com.
