Kubb

Essentially a vehicle for frontman Harry Collier's songwriting talents, four-piece pop/rock band Kubb instantly drew comparisons to Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, and Muse with the release of their debut album, Mother, in 2005. Born in Liverpool, Collier emigrated to his mother's native Tobago with his family when he was four years old. Developing a passion for music, he soon learned to play various instruments, including the clarinet and classical guitar. After moving back to England, namely Cornwall, at the age of 17, Collier played in various bands and eventually moved to London just as One Little Indian was attempting to sign his then current group. While working as a waiter in a North London organic cafe, he was asked to sing "Happy Birthday" to Rollo Armstrong, brother of Dido and member of Faithless, who was so impressed by his vocal talents that he invited him to his Highbury studio. There he met an old school friend of Rollo's, Ben Langmaid, who had a studio at the same complex, and Jeff Patterson.

The threesome began writing songs together that would form the basis of Mother, but both Langmaid and Patterson expressed no interest in being part of a band. Instead, Collier recruited former Reef drummer Dominic Greensmith (through an old touring contact, guitarist Adj Buffone, via an advertisement in NME) and keyboardist John Tilley to form Kubb. After signing to Mercury Records, the group released Mother, named after Collier's thoughts on the divine feminine in religion and the Earth. Produced by Youth, who masterminded Embrace's comeback, it featured the singles "Somebody Else," "Remain," "Wicked Soul" (which was later used as the soundtrack to a Kate Moss Rimmel commercial), and their biggest hit, "Grow," which reached number 18 in 2006. In the same year, Buffone announced on the band's MySpace page that he had left the group. Collier later appeared on two songs, the Top 30 single "Bombs" and the title track, on Faithless' fifth album, To All New Arrivals. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi