Artist
Mint Royale
Why we feature this artist Mint Royale: a familiar sound turned sideways Mint Royale’s Singin’ in the Rain makes a famous musical phrase feel unexpectedly elastic. The source is recognisable, but the electronic rhythm and the way the vocal is handled create an…
- From
- United Kingdom
- Sound
- big beat
- Active
- 1997–2016, 2020–present
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The artist, in context
The story of Mint Royale
Why we feature this artist
Mint Royale: a familiar sound turned sideways
Mint Royale’s Singin’ in the Rain makes a famous musical phrase feel unexpectedly elastic. The source is recognisable, but the electronic rhythm and the way the vocal is handled create another kind of movement. That playful relationship with familiar material runs through a catalogue that reaches well beyond one widely heard recording.
Neil Claxton and Chris Baker
Mint Royale began as Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997. Their early work appeared through Faith & Hope, with remixing helping to introduce the partnership alongside its own recordings. The version of Terrorvision’s Tequila became an especially visible early success.
The project’s own From Rusholme with Love offers a different introduction. Its instrumental character gives the production room to carry the identity through rhythm, texture and the placement of a memorable figure.
See You in the Morning
Baker left in 2004, with Claxton continuing the Mint Royale name. See You in the Morning followed in 2005, bringing songs including Something New and Singin’ in the Rain into an album-length programme.
The latter recording grew out of music made for a Volkswagen Golf advertisement. Its initial release belonged to 2005; a much larger chart moment followed in 2008. Those are distinct stages in the life of the same recording, rather than two unrelated versions of the project.
The pleasure of the rearrangement
Singin’ in the Rain works because recognition and surprise arrive together. The ear knows part of what it is hearing, but the rhythm invites that familiar phrase to behave differently. The production makes a new shape without hiding the source of the appeal.
The album gives that idea more surroundings. Moving from the best-known single to Something New and the title track reveals a project capable of both a striking one-off transformation and a broader, song-minded electronic setting.
Essential releases
From Rusholme with Love
An early original recording with a distinctive instrumental identity.
See You in the Morning
The album includes Something New and Singin’ in the Rain.
Singin’ in the Rain
The original release reaches its largest UK chart moment three years later.