Elizabeth Fraser
Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963)[1] is a Scottish singer. She was the vocalist for the band Cocteau Twins who achieved international success primarily during the fifteen years from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. Their studio albums Victorialand (1986) and Heaven or Las Vegas (1990) both reached the top ten of the UK Album Charts, as well as other albums including Blue Bell Knoll (1988), Four-Calendar Café (1993) and Milk & Kisses (1996) charting on the Billboard 200 album charts in the United States as well as the top 20 in the UK. She also performed as part of the 4AD group This Mortal Coil, including the successful 1983 single "Song to the Siren", and as a guest with Massive Attack on their 1998 single "Teardrop".
For other uses, see Elizabeth Fraser (disambiguation).
Elizabeth Fraser
The album Heaven or Las Vegas was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,[2] and was voted number 218 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[3] In 2020, Rolling Stone listed it at No. 245 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[4] Four of their studio albums reached number one on the UK Indie Chart.
When the Cocteau Twins disbanded, Fraser embarked on a moderately low-key solo career and provided guest vocals for other artists. She released some solo material, including singles "Underwater" (2000) and "Moses" (2009). Fraser has reportedly recorded enough material for a debut solo studio album; however, a release date or further information has not been published. In 2022, Fraser released the EP Sun's Signature, which includes a re-worked version of her 2000 single release "Underwater".[5] In May 2022, Fraser and former band mates Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde were awarded the Visionary Award by The Ivors Academy.[6]
Her distinctive style has received much critical praise in her four-decade career;[7] Melody Maker's journalist Steve Sutherland once described her as "the voice of God".[8] She was described by critic Jason Ankeny as "an utterly unique performer whose swooping, operatic vocals relied less on any recognizable language than on the subjective sounds and textures of verbalized emotions".[9]
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
Fraser was born and grew up in Grangemouth,[10][11] Her mother worked in a factory.[12] She was the youngest of six children. During her teenage years, she developed eating disorders and became bulimic. In 1996, Fraser said she was forced to leave the family house for having a punk look.[11] Music was important and represented an escape; at that time Fraser had portraits of her heroes like Siouxsie Sioux tattooed on her arms.[13] She met her partner Robin Guthrie at 17; "What brought us together was me having no ideas and opinions of my own, and him having plenty – enough for both of us. We were attracted to each other for the wrong reasons".[11]
Artistry and legacy[edit]
Fraser's lyrics with many of the Cocteau Twins's songs range from straightforward English to abstract mouth music. For some recordings, she has said she used foreign words without knowing what they meant – the words acquired meaning for her only as she sang them.[64] She has a soprano vocal range.[65] Her vocal ability lead to her being dubbed as "the voice of God" and "the voice from another world" by The Telegraph.[23] Fraser, and Cocteau Twins, were said to be "loved" by artist Madonna, and Prince wished to sign the band to his record label.[23]
Fraser credits Nina Simone as a major influence on her career, songwriting and recording. Fraser said "Nina Simone played such a big part of my life recently. Lawrence from Felt made me a tape with "Nuff Said" on one side and "Baltimore" on the other. I thought it was brilliant then. But now I’ve developed much more, both a singer and in my own life. She’s just done so much. I don’t know much about her life but that doesn’t bother me, because I’ve learnt so much about her through her material. She’s so vulnerable. And I can really relate to that. A lot of her songs are about being fallible. She’s a really dysfunctional person. And dysfunctional people are attracted to each other. I guess that’s why I am attracted to her. We both had a rough life. She’s familiar".[66]
In 2023, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after her, calling it the Fraser asteroid, which is not set to collide with earth for "millions of years", and it serves no harm to the existence of humanity. The name Fraser was chosen by the union after ten years of research.[67]
Personal life[edit]
Fraser lives with her partner, musician Damon Reece (from the band Lupine Howl), in Bristol. She has two daughters, the first by her former partner Robin Guthrie and the second by Reece.[68]
Credited as Elizabeth Fraser
Credited as Cocteau Twins