Sarah Nixey

Elegant British vocalist and composer Sarah Nixey first gained recognition as the cool-toned frontwoman for Black Box Recorder, the trio whose blend of tuneful charm, sharply cynical observations on society, and wide-ranging electronic pop textures earned a devoted following along with modest U.K. commercial traction near the millennium. While performing with the folk group Balloon, she received an invitation from Luke Haines, previously of the Auteurs, and John Moore, late of the Jesus and Mary Chain, to front a fresh pop venture they had devised, with assurances it would bring her prominence. The resulting act issued three studio albums plus a collection of B-sides from 1998 through 2003 before entering an indefinite pause without a formal dissolution. Nixey had wed Moore in 2001 ahead of the final album and the couple later welcomed a daughter, yet the marriage ended in 2006. That same holiday season the original lineup briefly reconvened to record the one-time single “Christmas Number One” alongside Art Brut personnel under the collective name the Black Arts. Nixey stepped out on her own in 2006 via the singles “Strangelove” and “The Collector,” both realized with James Banbury, another former Auteurs member who handled production, programming, and songwriting. During her years in the group she remained solely the interpretive voice for compositions and wry words supplied by Haines and Moore, a division underscored when she spoke the line “this is Sarah Nixey talking” on Passionoia’s “Andrew Ridgely.” By contrast, her 2007 solo debut Sing, Memory, issued on Banbury’s ServiceAV imprint and prefaced by the identical spoken phrase, found her crafting both melodies and markedly warmer, more compassionate lyrics for every track except two, one of which was a cover of the Human League’s early cut “The Black Hit of Space.” Additional vocal contributions from Nixey appeared on Banbury’s abstract electronic outfit InfantJoy as well as Haines’s 2006 release Off My Rocker at the Art School Bop.