Alpha

Corin Dingley and Andy Jenks launched the duo Alpha after earlier involvement with projects including Statik Sound System and Sugarboat. Their work draws equal inspiration from film soundtracks and the songwriting of Jimmy Webb as Massive Attack brings to hip-hop and dub, yet both Bristol-based groups enlist vocalists to animate their downtempo, beat-driven pieces. Alpha joined Massive Attack’s Melankolic Records in 1997 and issued their first full-length release, Come from Heaven, that same year. The Pepper EP appeared in 1998, followed by Impossible Thrill three years later. Alpha reached their widest U.K. audience in 2003 with Stargazing, an album singled out by Q and The Sunday Times for its meticulous production and lush soundscape. Several further albums appeared over the rest of the decade, among them 2007’s The Sky Is Mine.