Artist
The Shapeshifters
Why we feature this artist The Shapeshifters: disco detail in a house record Lola’s Theme gave the Shapeshifters a UK number one in 2004. The record’s warmth is as memorable as its immediate melodic appeal: disco-associated colour, an inviting vocal and the re…
- From
- United Kingdom
- Sound
- House, nu-disco, dance-pop
- Active
- 2004–present
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of The Shapeshifters
Why we feature this artist
The Shapeshifters: disco detail in a house record
Lola’s Theme gave the Shapeshifters a UK number one in 2004. The record’s warmth is as memorable as its immediate melodic appeal: disco-associated colour, an inviting vocal and the regular movement of house music become parts of one coherent arrangement. Back to Basics and Incredible give further ways into that early catalogue.
Simon Marlin and Max Reich
The original Shapeshifters recordings were made by Simon Marlin and Max Reich. Their debut album Sound Advice followed in 2006, providing a larger programme around the successful singles.
The identity later continued with Marlin working on his own. That change is important context, allowing the original partnership and the later catalogue to be understood without pretending that the line-up remained fixed throughout.
The Glitterbox chapter
Let Loose appeared through Glitterbox in 2022, extending the connection between house production and disco-oriented song craft. Defected’s acquisition of the earlier catalogue that year placed the Positiva recordings alongside that later work.
Marlin subsequently revisited Lola’s Theme in a 2023 VIP version. The new treatment had begun as something for his DJ sets, preserving the recognisable source while adjusting the arrangement for a different club setting.
The original Lola’s Theme remains the natural first encounter. Back to Basics, Sound Advice and Let Loose then provide a useful longer route: the early singles, the first album and a later full-length statement all reveal different balances between a song’s personality and the motion of a house record.
Essential releases
Lola’s Theme
The original single made the Shapeshifters a UK number-one act.
Sound Advice
The debut album expands the early singles programme.
Let Loose
The Glitterbox album presents the later Simon Marlin chapter.