Whale Returns With New Album, Discusses R. Kelly-Space Invaders Incident

11 Nov 1998 04:00:00 EST

Whale

In retrospect, it's easy to see that when Whale scored a hit in 1994 with "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe," the success came a bit too early. The song had rushed up the charts before Whale had secured a record deal or had even formed a proper group. Now, some four years later, a re-tooled line-up finds the Swedish band making its second foray into the U.S. with an eclectic new album, "All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones."

Whale was a three-piece outfit when the band originally recorded "Hobo," which featured a sleek video directed by auteur Mark Pellington. But by the time vocalist Cia Soro, guitarist Henrik Schyffert and drummer Gordon Cyrus had cut the songs for its 1995 debut, "We Care A Lot," the band had already evolved into a sound that wasn't exactly consistent with its breakthrough hit.

After touring with Blur in 1996, the group chose to disband for a short period of time. Whale subsequently reformed last year, expanding its line-up to a five-piece and recording its new, stylistically diverse album in studios in London, Chicago and Stockholm, Sweden.

During a recent interview with MTV, Soro and new bassist Heikki Kiviaho talked about a friendly altercation that erupted during the Chicago sessions between the group and R&B singer R. Kelly -- sparked, of all things, by a video game.

"I think the best player in the band [at the Space Invaders game] is [Heikki] actually," Soro said.

"I had the high score," Kiviaho immodestly added, Soro said, jokingly, "and I felt like, I mean, we're poor musicians so we can't afford to buy ourselves our own Space Invaders game. But he can, so I think he [should be able to] buy himself at least two or three. It's not fair." [28.8 RealVideo]

Whale is currently on the road with an old friend, Tricky, and their joint tour is scheduled to play the Metropol in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night.

Related Artists

Tricky Taps Whale For U.S. Tour

8 Oct 1998 07:55:00 EDT

Tricky

Trip-hop guru Tricky has tapped Swedish dance rock outfit Whale to open on his U.S. tour, which kicks off next month in South Carolina.

The Tricky/Whale double bill gets rolling in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on November 7, and will traverse the States before wrapping up in Los Angeles a month later.

The two have teamed up before, as Tricky leant vocals to Whale's 1995's "We Care" album. This time around, Tricky is promoting his latest effort, "Angels With Dirty Faces," while Whale is trying to drum up support for "All Disco Dance Must End In Broken Bones."

If you want to catch one of the year's more challenging double bills, here's where you should go:

11/7 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House Of Blues
11/9 - Knoxville, TN @ Stock Exchange
11/10 - Charlottesville, VA @ Trax
11/11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropol
11/13 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
11/14 - Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
11/15 - New York, NY @ Roxy
11/17 - Providence, RI @ Lupo's
11/18 - Baltimore, MD @ Bohanger's
11/19 - New York, NY @ Eisner and Lubin Auditorium
11/21 - Cincinnati, OH @ Annie's
11/22 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
11/24 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
11/25 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
11/26 - Chicago, IL @ House Of Blues
11/27 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Hall
11/29 - Salt Lake City, UT @ TBD
12/2 - Vancouver, BC @ The Rage
12/3 - Seattle, WA @ DV8
12/5 - Santa Cruz, CA@ Palookaville
12/6 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
12/8 - Pomona, CA @ Glass House
12/9 - Los Angeles, CA @ House Of Blues

Related Artists

Tricky
Whale