Smuggled Sounds: McAlmont & Butler - the sound of McAlmont & Butler

Mbkh2 The duo formed in 1994. Both Butler and McAlmont had already experienced success in the music industry. Butler was the guitarist in the indie/glam rock band Suede, until his acrimonious departure during the recording of their second album, Dog Man Star. McAlmont, a soul singer with a three octave range, had been part of the duo Thieves with Saul Freeman, who released a handful of singles and had opened for Morrissey on tour before breaking up. An album of their sessions was subsequently released under the name McAlmont in 1994.
McAlmont and Butler's first single, "Yes", was released in May 1995, and reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart. A second single, "You Do", reached number 17 in October. They made a handful of television appearances, but before they could tour, the band had an acrimonious breakup. Their recording sessions had produced enough material for an album: The Sound of McAlmont and Butler was released early in 1996 and made number 33 in the UK Albums Chart.
Mbkh1 After pursuing solo careers for several years, Butler approached McAlmont about working together again, and the duo resolved their issues. The first single of their new collaboration was Falling, released in 2002, which reached number 23 in the UK singles chart. The second single, Bring it Back, and an album, Bring it Back, were released later that year. They also contributed a cover of Take That's "Back for Good" to the NME's charity complilation War Child.
Several additional songs were written and recorded with the idea for a third album, but this project was put on hold when Butler joined his former Suede bandmate Brett Anderson to form a new band, The Tears. The song "Speed", taken from those third album sessions, was released on Rough Trade Records on August 7 2006 as a download and on the 21st August as a limited edition 7" single.