If you are the sort of music-lover that has moved beyond Top-40, this one is definitely worth your time. If it helps, here are some comparable artists (some are closer than others, I know)
Bel Canto
Delerium
Sarah MacLachlan
Claire Voyant
Love Spirals Downwards
Alpha
Baxter
Coldplay
Skunk Anansie
Abra Moore
Olive
Everything But The Girl
Waterlillies
Cafe Del Mar

Discography: Empathy (1998), Instinct (2000), Solace (compilation album, set for US release April 2001) ....


Simply breath-taking   April 7, 2001
Erica Anderson (Minneapolis, MN)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I found a copy of the "Solace" compilation which includes tracks off "Instinct" in the used cd bins where I shop and less than two weeks before it was going to be officially released. Remembering how much I liked the song "This Life" from "The Next Best Thing" soundtrack, I immediately rescued this cd from the used bins. It didn't take me long to become infatuated with Mandalay and their intricate melodies. "Beautiful" just took my breath away and almost made me weep. I haven't heard anything as gorgeous as "Beautiful", and "Deep Love". Nicola Hitchcock's fragile voice reminded me of Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell and Solar Twins's Joanna Stevens at times. I hope to see more from this duo in the future.


Mysterious, atmospheric chill-out music!   December 5, 2000
Arry Tanusondjaja (Adelaide, Australia)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I began to hunt for Mandalay albums when I heard one of their songs in one of Cafe del Mar CD's ("Beautiful") and also when I heard them again in "The Next Best Thing" OST ("This Life"). Nicola Hitchcock's breathy, sensual voice combined with the chill-out atmospheric music has really captured me!

After the party has wound down to a number of close friends and you need to relax and have good conversations without dampening the spirit, Mandalay would really flavour the atmosphere with their tasty beat and vocal arrangement. After a heavy day at work, it's also great just to close my eyes and listen to "Like Her", "No Reality" or "You Forget".

Mandalay is simply one of UK's hidden gems!


Act on "Instinct"   January 25, 2005
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
"You're not seventeen/To be missing him like/You do," murmurs Nicola Hitchcock. Mandalay's sophomore album "Instinct" sticks to that song's style -- wistful, trembling trip-hop. These are romantic ballads for the fragile romantic lurking in your heart.

It opens with "Not Seventeen," a wistful ballad that dwells on how a girl can miss her love, and tries to stem her feelings by saying that "I'm not innocent/ And I know that I could/I'm not seventeen/And I know that you're not/To blame." But it's made clear that her feelings won't be denied, as Hitchcock trembles her way to the end.

"Not Seventeen" followed by equally exquisite songs like "It's Enough Now," a breathily urgent pop song, the wounded fragility of "Like Her," and the soaring "Deep Love." Only the trippy, discordant "Don't Invent Me" sheds the vulnerability -- though the song is as lovelorn as ever, it sounds stronger and almost playful.

"Instinct" leans a bit more on the trip-hop than the pop edge, with a bit of symphonic grandeur mixed in with the horns and strings (or electronic approximations of them), paired with sparkling electronic waves. This is definitely music to slow-dance to -- the sweet tone and abundance of love songs demands it.

Hitchcock's voice is the heart of Mandalay. Her singing is a bit wobbly and very sweet, like a lost child; the trembling vocals in "Not Seventeen" add to the sense of frightened innocence. And her songs are quite pretty. They're a bit high-school-love-poetry in their simplicity, but they are pleasant, especially when they stay simple. It's strangely touching when she sings "The simple things/The time reveals/Will heal your mind/In simple things/The time reveals/You will be mine."

But if Hitchcock is the heart, then Saul Freeman's electronic production is the soul. He creates a downtempo, almost jazzy sound, but switches over to soundscapes that stop just short of being epic, and the cascading electronic waves. "Don't Invent Me" is particularly blessed, with its horns and shooting-star effects.

"Instinct" is a worthy second album for Mandalay, a group that sadly only made four. Exquisite, fragile and deeply romantic, this is Portishead as a vulnerable teenager.


Next Step For Cocteau Twins Lovers   April 7, 2001
For anyone who feels a void in their music with the demise of the Cocteau Twins, this would be the CD to own. Ethereal as anything Elizabeth Fraser would have done- plus on the import you get additional dance mixes.