Underworld are one of the most crucial and influential electronic acts of the last 20 years.

Underworld was formed in 1988 by vocalist Karl Hyde and guitarist Rick Smith from the ashes of their previous band Freur and released two albums of guitar orientated electropop, before Darren Emerson joined the duo in 1992. A new techno oriented sound was unleashed which helped usher in a period of unprecedented success for the band.

The first album by the trio, ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’, received mass critical acclaim, covering a large spectrum of dance genres and crossed over to the British pop charts. Their next album ‘Second Toughest in the Infants’ was an even greater success, propelled largely by the popularity of the non-album single 'Born Slippy NUXX', which was famously featured in the seminal film Trainspotting.

Emerson left the band in 2000 shortly after the release of the album ‘Beaucoup Fish’ (1999) and Underworld reverted back to being a duo, with occasional help from collaborator, respected DJ Darren Price, releasing the critically acclaimed albums ‘A Hundred Days Off’ (2002) and ‘Oblivion With Bells’ (2007), as well as several online and limited release projects.

 

Underworld continue to make sophisticated, intelligent and heartfelt dance music and have also successfully branched out into score and soundtrack writing providing music to films by Danny Boyle and the late Anthony Minghella.