Olive

Olive embodied the more restrained, living-room dimension of electronica and trip-hop that foregrounds singer-songwriters. The project originated when producers Tim Kellett, formerly of Simply Red, and Robin Taylor-Firth, once a member of Nightmares on Wax, teamed with vocalist Ruth-Ann Boyle. Kellett first met Boyle during his keyboard duties in a touring version of the Durutti Column, where he processed her looped vocals live, and subsequently invited her into a fresh studio endeavor. Adding Taylor-Firth while Kellett supplied the words, the three cut a handful of tracks that quickly drew competing offers from multiple labels. RCA Records secured the rights and issued the single “You’re Not Alone” in 1995. Although nearly twelve months passed before British listeners embraced it, the song climbed to number one and moved five hundred thousand copies. The track also found moderate favor stateside, settling just outside the Top 40. Their follow-up album, Trickle, surfaced in 2000 via Maverick Records.