Ultramarine

Ultramarine's output as a Canterbury duo evades simple labels by weaving together electronica, ambient, techno, and folk with echoes of the eclectic progressive rock acts tied to the Canterbury scene in the 1970s, including Soft Machine, Caravan, and Robert Wyatt, who made occasional live appearances alongside the pair and guested on their 1993 album United Kingdoms. Steady recording marked their path through the nineties, yet the first decade of the following century brought a complete absence while the members turned to solo work and production duties. Their return came in 2013 through This Time Last Year on Real Soon.

Paul Hammond and Ian Cooper form the duo, whose work consistently conveys a distinctly British character. In addition to layers of keyboards and samplers, they draw on an assortment of acoustic and electric instruments, found sounds, and synthetic textures that remain light and open, producing results that feel both idiosyncratic and immediately approachable.

The pair first worked together in the avant-garde group A Primary Industry in the mid-eighties. Once that band ended, they adopted the name Ultramarine and released the Folk LP in 1990 on Les Disques du Crépuscule. Their next effort, Every Man and Woman Is a Star, arrived in 1992 and brought acclaim as one of the earliest electronic acts aimed at home listening. Sire signed them in 1992 and released United Kingdoms the following year as their initial American title. Despite prominent involvement from Robert Wyatt, joined by Kevin Ayers on the related Hymn EP, the album vanished from sight in both domestic and overseas markets. Hammond and Cooper nonetheless carried on recording in their eccentric electronic folk-pop style for 1995's Bel Air. Three years afterward, User's Guide moved their sound nearer the trip-hop and electronica mainstream.

An extended pause followed until the duo resurfaced in 2011 with the singles "Find a Way" and "Acid I Butch," then delivered their sixth studio album, This Time Last Year, in 2013.

After a brief period of touring, the members again withdrew to focus on separate and shared projects. In 2015 they began writing material at their Essex studio and brought in Anna Domino as a collaborator on songwriting and performances for four tracks, among them the single "Spark from Flint to Clay." Once the twelve-song Signals Into Space was finished, with appearances from saxophonist Iain Ballamy of Food and Loose Tubes plus percussionist and vibraphone player Ric Elsworth, Ultramarine issued both that album and the two-track ambient EP Meditations in January 2019.