The Big Pink

Taking their name from the iconic house where the Band and Bob Dylan recorded some of their most reputable works, the Big Pink formed in 2007 by Robertson “Robbie” Furze and Milo Cordell. Prior to their band’s formation the two managed the record label Hate Channel. Separate from their joint efforts Furze acted as the guitarist for the band Alec Empire and Cordell ran his own independent label, Merok Records whose output includes releases from Klaxons, Titus Andronicus, and Crystal Castles.

The duo’s first official release as Big Pink, the 7” vinyl “Too Young to Love” came out in 2008 through House Anxiety Records. The first pressing was limited to 500 copies and sported a cover design featuring a homoerotic photograph taken by American novelist Denis Cooper. The cover design for the 12” release also contained Cooper’s photography work and the single’s title track received remixes by trip-hop aficionados UNKLE and the spanish dance group Delorean.

2009 proved to be a very busy year for the group, but also saw them reap the rewards of their labor. Within this span of time they put out three singles “Velvet”, “Dominos”, “Stop The World”, a cover of the Cure’s “Lovesong” and the 6 track EP “This Is Our Time”, with two of the cuts featuring a reworking of “Velvet” by Gang Gang Dance and Mount Kimbie. By far the biggest release for the band that year was their full length studio debut “A Brief History of Love”. This release peaked at No. 56 on the UK Albums Chart and earned them high praise from media publications such as Pitchfork and NME, the later bestowing them with the Philip Hall Radar Award for best new act.

Since February of 2009 the group signed on to the legendary British independent label 4 AD, joining the roster with artists such as Ariel Pink, Grimes, Scott Walker, St. Vincent, and Deerhunter. Following the release of their debut album the band embarked on a nationwide tour, which saw them making stops in the United States, UK, Australia, and Japan as well as opening acts like for Muse and TV on the Radio.

In 2010 the group released the two singles “Tonight” and “At War With the Sun”, before throwing down their highly anticipated sophomore album “Future This”. The album came out on 11 January 2012 and displayed a slight deviation from their earlier sound, veering into a more “hip-hop” oriented direction and showcasing samples ranging from Siouxie and the Banshees “Happy House”, 50 Cent’s “Westside Story”, and Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman”.

“Future This” would mark the last album featuring Cordell; however Furze decided to continue on with the project and stated plans to release it’s follow up in 2015. Recoding sessions for the new album took place in New York’s Electric Lady Studios and featured drum tracks from Vicky Jean Smith. In the past Big Pink have recruited the help of artists like Akiko Mastuura (of Pre, Comanechi, Perm Javelin), Daniel O’Sullivan (of Ulver, Sunn O))), and Guapo), Leopold Ross, and Paul Epsworth.