Archive

Based in London, Archive is an electronic band with strong trip-hop influences, a style that gained traction in Europe from the early 1990s. The group was founded by musicians and composers Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths. Their first, somewhat avant-garde album, Londonium, was released in 1996 on Island Records. The lineup changed and Archive reappeared in 1999 with Take My Head and vocalist Suzanne Wooder. The band finally broke into the spotlight in 2002 with the 16-minute track “Again,” the opening piece of the album You Look the Same to Me. Gradually but steadily, Archive began to establish itself on the trip-hop scene. From 2002 to 2009 the band released almost an album a year, and in the meantime composed the soundtrack for the film Michel Vaillant. For the album Lights (2006) they were joined by David Kenney, Pollard Berrier and Maria Q. After numerous concerts and an appearance as support for Muse at the Stade de France, Archive returned in 2009 with their seventh album, Controlling Crowds, which once again demonstrated the band’s distinctive talent.