Lush

Lush stood among the leading shoegaze and dream pop acts of the early 1990s by fusing ethereal, effects-saturated guitars with light, memorable melodies. Guitarists Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson steered the British group, which cultivated a devoted following in the UK and US underground scenes through its earliest EPs, even as it received less critical regard than contemporaries My Bloody Valentine and Ride. Still, Lush endured longer than nearly all its peers, save the Boo Radleys, while sharpening its pop craft across successive releases. With the 1996 album Lovelife the band had shifted toward power pop anchored by dream pop textures, securing its strongest chart results to date. That progress ended when drummer Chris Acland died by suicide in autumn 1996, dissolving the lineup.

Miki Berenyi, Emma Anderson, Chris Acland, Steve Rippon on bass, and Meriel Barham on guitar established Lush in London, England, in 1987. Beforehand, schoolmates Berenyi and Anderson had co-produced a fanzine and performed separately in other groups; Anderson, then employed as a DHSS clerical assistant, had played bass in the Rover Girls, while Berenyi had belonged to the I-Goat Fuhrer Five and the Lillies. Berenyi’s boyfriend at the time, Acland, had also performed with Panik, Infection, and A Touch of Hysteria. Barham departed shortly after formation to start the Pale Saints, after which the remaining members performed regularly in London and quickly attracted supporters that included Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins. Guthrie arranged a contract with 4AD, leading to the well-received debut EP Scar in 1989. Lush promoted the record by opening for Loop and the Darling Buds, and by 1990 the band was headlining its own tours.

During 1990 the group’s standing in the British press rose through the release of the praised EPs Mad Love and Sweetness and Light, appearances at prominent events such as the Glastonbury Festival, and frequent mentions in music-weeklies gossip pages. Gala, a compilation of the three EPs, marked Lush’s first American release at the close of 1990. Most of 1991 was spent recording the debut album and issuing the Black Spring EP in spring; Rippon exited during those sessions and was succeeded by Philip King, formerly a picture researcher at NME and a onetime member of Felt, Servants, and Biff Bang Pow. The long-delayed first album Spooky appeared in spring 1992. Although it reached the British Top Ten and topped the UK indie charts, reviewers faulted Guthrie’s dominant production. The band toured America in support by joining the second Lollapalooza bill, yet its dream pop style found little favor with an audience favoring metal. The second album Split arrived in summer 1994 to mixed notices and was overshadowed by the concurrent rise of Brit-pop and American post-grunge, despite the material leaning more overtly pop than before.

Following a regrouping in 1995, Lush resurfaced in early 1996 with Lovelife, an album reflecting the concise single-oriented approach of Brit-pop. The stylistic turn proved effective: “Single Girl” and “Ladykiller” became the band’s two highest-charting singles, and the album entered the British Top 20; in the United States it achieved the group’s best showing at number 189. After completing supporting tours and summer festival dates, Chris Acland hanged himself at his parents’ home on October 17, 1996. The remaining members entered an extended period of mourning and formally disbanded in February 1998.

Between 1998 and 2007 Anderson formed one half of Sing-Sing, which recorded for Alan McGee’s Poptones, Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union, and the band’s own Aerial Records among other imprints. King played with the Jesus and Mary Chain and the Fallen Leaves. In 2015 Berenyi, Anderson, and King announced a reunion and promptly issued the box set Chorus, encompassing all 4AD recordings. With Justin Welch of Elastica on drums, Lush cut new material co-produced by Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt and booked UK dates plus a brief US tour for 2016; the resulting EP Blind Spot appeared that April on the band’s Edamame label.