My Friend The Chocolate Cake

Eclectic Australian chamber pop outfit My Friend the Chocolate Cake originated in 1990 when singer/pianist David Bridie and cellist Helen Mountfort assembled the group. Although it began as an acoustic-leaning offshoot from the ambient/world music collective Not Drowning, Waving, the ensemble rapidly cultivated a devoted following within their hometown of Melbourne and issued their self-titled debut album the following year. Bridie and Mountfort’s sophomore effort, Brood from 1994, blended folk, pop, Celtic, and semi-orchestral textures reminiscent of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, propelling the band to wider recognition and securing an ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album—an achievement they duplicated two years later with the 1996 release Good Luck. This growing global visibility led them to headline the Edinburgh Festival and undertake a European tour backing their 1997 U.K. compilation Review. A 1999 anthology titled 19 Easy Pieces gathered rarities and previously unheard tracks while Bridie resided in Papua New Guinea and launched the side project Hotel Radio.

Reconvening in 2002, the musicians tracked the lush, introspective Curious before pausing again. After their Mushroom Records agreement lapsed in 2000, the independent Australian label Liberation Music reissued the full catalog in 2005 and added the retrospective collection Parade. Home Improvements marked their first original material on Liberation and surfaced in 2007. Once mandolinist and whistle player Andrew Carswell exited, the band completed Fiasco in 2011, their sixth studio album. My Friend the Chocolate Cake maintained an active touring schedule in subsequent seasons and delivered their second live album, Best (Cake) in Show, during 2014. The 2017 outing The Revival Meeting presented a reflective balance of instrumental passages and sung material.