To read about Temposhark at Wikipedia (click here)

Biography

Remember the days when music had got about as criminally colourless as it's ever been? The charts had been colonised by identikit vanilla popstrels, alternativity was split between sloggers soaking up the Britpop hangover and a combination of wallflowers and wallpaperers, and dance music was lorded over by a tiring technoscenti and numerous forgotten pan-flashers that were almost asinine in their anonymity. This was the landscape that most of today's younger twentysomethings had to battle through, sadly. Lucky some of them took the opportunity to get buffing up their prick-kicking shoes then, eh?

Temposhark is the brainchild of lead singer/songwriter Robert Diament, an engaging figure whose ostensible sweetness covers up a heart of darkest drama and ears that have flapped archly through the years to such giants as Kate Bush and Scritti Poliiti – anyone that dared to put the art into smart, essentially.

Diament became bleep urchin, whose motto may well be "twiddle me this", and whose unending search for new noise has led him onto some mightily squirrelly floors and taught him that just because it's pop doesn't mean it can't also haemorrhage your stereo.

He wasted no time in taking tentative steps along a particularly left-leaning musical yellow brick road, but, by the tried'n'tested random route of studying in the capital, and on meeting drummer Mathis Richet, bassist Mark Ferguson and keyboardist Luke Juby, they soon developed in their own right as a match made in heaven. Or indeed in any other glamorous metropolitan nightspot you'd care to mention. And so they plotted and schemed. And wrote loads of songs about lowlifes and nightlife, and ones that would've bedded down nicely on New Order's 'Low-Life' and scared the bejeesus out of much of the Pet Shop Boys' 'Nightlife'. And thus was Temposhark born.

Fair to say they've been on something of a feeding frenzy since then too. 2008 has seen tracks circulating that have led to all kinds of discerning eyelids being batted at them. It's afforded them the opportunity to collaborate with celebrated chanteuse Imogen Heap (Frou Frou), Decca's violin star Sophie Solomon, legendary producers Guy Sigsworth (Madonna/Björk/Lamb), Sean McGhee (Robyn/Sugababes/Kate Havnevik/Frou Frou), Kate Havnevik (Norwegian songstress/Royksopp collaborator), Camille (EMI France), Carmen Rizzo (Seal/Oakenfold/Alanis Morissette) and even a spot of song writing with Killing Joke bassist Youth. And it's watched them devouring dancefloors in some of the most salubrious and progressive venues the country has to offer, not to mention live shows at the prestigious Tate Britain art gallery and the ICA in the pipeline.

And all the while they've been creating converts galore with, firstly, a presence that locks itself in glittering amber and gets welded to unsuspecting punters aplenty and, just as significantly, a host of songs that keep the flickeringly moribund nu-electro flame aglow with defiance and decadence, precision and passion. Mark Moore (S'Express) is love-pledgingly impressed and recently delivered a club remix of 'Blame' to show his belief in the band. London's most creative circles are embracing them like long-lost paramours and their new glam-pop single 'Joy' is poised to awaken the whole world to the thrills their dazzling debut album has in store. Temposhark may be dancing to their very own beat, but they're just the great white hopes you need.

Written by Iain Moffat.