Kosheen

The debut album Resist appeared in 2001. Hide U, Catch and Hungry established a sound in which the rhythm and the vocal had different kinds of urgency. The drums could keep making sharp turns while the melody held a longer emotional line.

Hide U is particularly effective because the voice does not try to match every detail in the beat. Evans sings across the movement, letting the refrain gather its own momentum. The arrangement gives the vocal enough room to become memorable without reducing the rhythmic interest around it.

Kokopelli followed in 2003, with All in My Head among the songs that widened the group’s crossover audience. The album allowed a more overt band sound into the arrangements, extending the songwriting beyond one particular electronic setting.

Damage arrived in 2007, followed by further work including Independence and Solitude. The discography makes clear how central the song itself remained. Different production choices could alter the surface, but the voice and melodic structure still gave the music a recognisable centre.

Kosheen’s live work brings that relationship into especially clear focus. A strong vocal line has to remain itself while the surrounding energy changes, and Evans’s performances give the electronic parts a human point of reference.

The early singles are a good reminder that crossover does not have to mean losing the interesting part of a style. Hide U keeps the movement of a breakbeat record and the emotional arc of a song, allowing each to strengthen the other.