Hear Former Cocteau Twins Singer Elizabeth Fraser’s First Original Song in 13 Years

Former Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser has formed a new group with her partner, Massive Attack’s Damon Reece, called Sun’s Signature, which will release an EP — Fraser’s first new original music in 13 years — this summer. “Golden Air,” the first song the duo is releasing, perfectly captures the dreamy aesthetic Fraser helped pioneer in the Eighties, as she flexes her soprano in both catchy and avant-garde ways over thick textures of baroque pop. Genesis’ Steve Hackett plays some of the guitar on the song. The physical release of the five-track, eponymous EP, will come out June 18 for Record Store Day, with a digital release following in July.

The EP came about after Anohni invited Fraser and Reece (whose previous credits also include stints in Spiritualized and Echo and the Bunnymen) to perform at the Meltdown Festival in 2012. Since then Fraser has joined Reece on the road for Massive Attack’s Mezzanine XXI tour (she sang the Mezzanine album’s “Teardrop”) and has recoded with Jonsi, Sam Lee, and Oneohtrix Point Never. Fraser and Reece also collaborated on the music for the British series The Nightmare World of H.G. Wells.

“I wasn’t personally influenced by any specific thing,” Fraser said in a statement about the music. “I’m too insecure about listening to other artists. I’m concerned that they may exercise undue influence over me.” Nevertheless, she said she hopes the music could “take you on a journey like [Sixties psych-rock group Love’s] Forever Changes.” Reece says he drew inspiration from the soundtracks of John Barry and Bernard Herrmann. The couple has been working on some of the songs, which appeared in embryonic forms at the Meltdown Festival, in the decades since Cocteau Twins broke up in 1997.

Sun’s Signature EP track list:

1. “Underwater”
2. “Golden Air”
3. “Bluedusk”
4. “Apples”
5. “Make Lovely the Day”