Smoke City: A Band You've Probably Never Heard of (Unless You Are from the UK)

I wasn't expecting to come across Smoke City but I did. One night back in 1997 I happened to be sampling random music online. It was late at night and I accidently played Underwater Love by Smoke City. It had a sound I had never heard before (which not listening to a lot of music at that time hearing a beat I had never heard before wasn't that difficult for me at all). What I heard intrigued me. It was not long after that I purchased Smoke City's first CD Flying Away.

Founded in 1995, Smoke City is a British band consisting of Nina Miranda, Chris Franck, and Marc Brown. Their first song Underwater Love was used in a Levi's Commercial Ad and was released as a single in 1996. In 1997 their first album Flying Away hit stores in the United Kingdom.

Nina Miranda's background of being half Brazilian and having lived in France, Britain, and Brazil can be heard in the unique sound of the music. Chris Franck and Marc Brown also contribute on the keyboard and other instruments and occasionally lend a voice to a song.

Flying Away merges many different sounds but in a way that is very aesthetically pleasing to the ear. It combines many different types of music. There are at the very least elements of acid jazz, Brazilian, trip-hop, and bossa nova in the sound. However to categorize it by one genre would be to leave out important elements of others.

In 2000 much to the surprise of many people Smoke City released a new single entitled Jug. The following year a new album followed entitled Heroes of Nature (which included the single Jug). Heroes of Nature has much more of a "pop" sound for lack of better phrasing. The same elements are there as in the first album but to much different degrees. Much less trip-hop and more of a Brazilian influence than the first album. The guitar skills of Chris Franck are also much more utilized.

Sadly after Heroes of Nature there seems to be no new plans for the three to reunite. Nina has gone on to do guest vocals with a few different bands including Arkestra One and has now formed a new group with Dennis Wheatley named Shrift. They recently released an album entitled Lost in a Moment (Which I might add two of the tracks sound very similar to Smoke City's first album Flying Away). Marc Brown went onto to contribute to a group called KV5. Chris Franck has continued in his group Da Lata which started in 2000 as a side project. Will Smoke City ever produce another album? Only time will tell...