Smoke City

Smoke City
Smoke City
Origin	London, England
Genres	Electronic, trip hop
Years active	1996–2002
Labels	Jive Records
Members	Nina Miranda; Mark Brown; Chris Franck

Smoke City was an English band that blended acid jazz and trip hop, borrowing from Brazilian styles such as samba and bossa nova and some lyrics have excerpts in Portuguese.^[2] They are best known for their single "Underwater Love", which was a major hit in 1997, after being used in a Levi's television advertisement, "Mermaids" (directed by Michel Gondry).^[2] In 1997, the band released their first album, Flying Away, which included several hits such as "Underwater Love", "Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous)" and "Águas de março (Joga Bossa Mix)".^[2] Smoke City's next album, Heroes of Nature, was released in 2001. An extended version of Heroes of Nature had three more tracks than the original, one of them being a cover version of John Lennon's "Imagine".

"Underwater Love" is also a track on the soundtrack for Thicker Than Water, a surf video.

In 1998, the band contributed "O Cara Lindo (Mr. Gorgeous)" to the AIDS benefit compilation album Onda Sonora: Red Hot Lisbon, which was produced by the Red Hot Organization.

The group disbanded in 2002.

Slant Magazine listed their album Flying Away #20 on their list of greatest trip-hop albums of all time.^[3]

Members

Nina Miranda (vocals, fx)
Mark Brown (programming, turntables, keyboards, percussion, vocals, fx)
Chris Franck (guitar, keyboards, percussion, bass, vocals)

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	AUS ^[4]
Flying Away	Released: 1997 Label: Jive	123
Heroes of Nature	Released: 2001 Label: Cutting Edge	–

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title	Year	Chart positions
Title	Year	UK ^[5]	AUS ^[4]	AUT	BE-FL	BE-WA	GER	ITA	NOR	SWE	SWI ^[6]
"Underwater Love"	1997	4	41	23	42	33	55	—	18	58	32
"Mr. Gorgeous (and Miss Curvaceous)"	1997	—	168	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Smoke City". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 363. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
^ "The 20 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time". Slant Magazine. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Smoke City ARIA Chart history (complete)". ARIA. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 510. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ Steffen Hung. "Smoke City - Underwater Love". Charts.nz. Retrieved 25 April 2012.

External links

Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)

[allmusic-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Smoke City". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

[Larkin90-2] Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 363. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.

[3] "The 20 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time". Slant Magazine. 23 April 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

[ARIA_history-4] "Smoke City ARIA Chart history (complete)". ARIA. Retrieved 26 July 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.

[British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums-5] Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 510. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

[chartsorgnz-6] Steffen Hung. "Smoke City - Underwater Love". Charts.nz. Retrieved 25 April 2012.

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Smoke City
Origin	London, England^[1]
Genres	Electronic, trip hop^[1]
Years active	1996–2002
Labels	Jive Records^[1]

Members	Nina Miranda^[1] Mark Brown^[1] Chris Franck^[1]