They have released works under numerous aliases like The Future Sound of London (main moniker), Amorphous Androgynous, Yage, Humanoid, Amorphous Androgynous, Mental Cube, Q, Zeebox, Heads Of Agreement, Semtex, The Far-out Son Of Lung, Part-Sub-Merged, Art Science Technology, and many more.
Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans met in the mid 80s while studying electronics at university in Manchester, England. Dougans had already been making electronic music for some time, working between Glasgow and Manchester, when they first began working in various local clubs. In 1988, Dougans embarked on a project for the Stakker graphics company. The result was the club hit "Stakker Humanoid", issued under Humanoid alias. In the following three years the pair produced music under a variety of aliases, releasing a plethora of singles and EPs, including the successful bleep techno singles "Q" and "Metropolis".
The band achieved commercial success in 1991 with the seminal breakthrough ambient-dub track "Papua New Guinea", featuring a looping Lisa Gerrard (of Dead Can Dance) vocal sample and a bassline from Meat Beat Manifesto's "Radio Babylon". Other singles issued include Cascade, Expander, Lifeforms EP, The Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman, My Kingdom, We Have Explosive, Stakker Humanoid 2001, Papua New Guinea 2001, Papua New Guinea Translations.
FSOL's main studio albums are: the techno-influenced Accelerator (1991), the jazz-influenced ISDN (1994), the ambiental Lifeforms (1994), the experimental Dead Cities (1996), and the ambient tetralogy Environments (2007), Environments II (2008), Environments 3 (2010), Environments 4 (2012).
They released in 2006 a Best Of album entitled Teachings from the Electronic Brain, followed by a series of compilations with pieces recorded in the 90s, like From the Archives Vol.1 (2007), From the Archives Vol.2 (2007), From the Archives Vol.3 (2007), From the Archives Vol.4 (2008), From the Archives Vol.5 (2008), From the Archives Vol.6 (2010).
Under the moniker Amorphous Androgynous, Cobain and Dougans released the highly experimental Tales of Ephidrina (1993) and the psychedelic rock influenced albums The Isness (as FSOL in USA, 2002), Alice in Ultraland (2005), The Peppermint Tree and Seeds of Superconsciousness (2008), A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 1 (2008), A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 2 (2009), A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 3 (2010).
The pair also grew in repute as remixers, obliterating tracks by Curve, The Shamen, Robert Fripp/David Sylvian, Oasis, Massive Attack, Jon Anderson, Apollo 440, and rebuilding pieces of almost majestic complexity with the remnants. FSOL collaborated with Robert Fripp on "Flak", with Talvin Singh on "Life Form Ends", with Toni Halliday (of Curve) on "Cerebral", with Elizabeth Fraser (of Cocteau Twins) on the single version of "Lifeforms".
Official site: http://www.futuresoundoflondon.com
Divinity
The Future Sound of London Lyrics
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Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
You're not as old as the trees
Not as young as the leaves
Not as open as the sea
And your heart hasn't found a home
Endlessly it seems to roam
One day you will find inexhaustable ecstacy
And you will see
That you're beautiful and always have been
And everybody else can see
The love that you've been looking for
Is right there inside your door
Little Miss Divinity
You're the one that you've been looking for
Little Miss Divinity
Won't you lay your love on thee?
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
If you need a friend then I'll be sailing right by your side
But if you need a lover you must leave it all behind
And if you need direction, the world can seem unkind
So listen closely my love
You have time
You're doing fine
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
Hey now now now now now
Hey now na na hey
The lyrics of The Future Sound of London's song "Divinity" speak to the feeling of being lost and searching for a sense of purpose and belonging. The song begins with a repetition of "Hey now" followed by "You're not as old as the trees, not as young as the leaves, you're not as free as the breeze, not as open as the sea." These lines constructs a imagery of the person as being in limbo- not old, but not young, not quite free, but not quite open. As we continue through the song, the lyrics guide us through the turbulence of finding oneself.
The chorus sings "Little Miss Divinity/ You're the one that you've been looking for/ Little Miss Divinity/ Won't you lay your love on thee?" These lines come off as a sort of affirmation - an advice to be gentle with oneself and appreciate the self as is. The singer tells the Little Miss Divinity that she's always been beautiful and that everyone else can see it too, she must simply see it for herself. The singer then offers a helping hand, they can be a friend, but not a lover. And though the world may seem unkind at times, she must listen closely because she has time and she's doing just fine.
Overall, the lyrics of the song tackle the subject of self-discovery with contrasting images of nature, emphasizing that no matter what stage of life or journey of self-discovery one may be in- they are still a part of the bigger picture.
Line by Line Meaning
You're not as old as the trees
You're not as experienced as the trees, but you have some wisdom.
Not as young as the leaves
You're not as immature as the leaves, but you still have some growth left.
You're not as free as the breeze
You're not as liberated as the breeze, but you have some freedom within you.
Not as open as the sea
You're not as transparent as the sea, but you have some openness to you.
And your heart hasn't found a home
Your heart hasn't found a place where it belongs.
Endlessly it seems to roam
Your heart seems to wander aimlessly without a purpose.
One day you will find inexhaustable ecstasy
One day you will experience something that will bring you endless joy.
And you will see
You will understand.
That you're beautiful and always have been
You're beautiful just the way you are, and you always have been.
And everybody else can see
Others can see the beauty in you too.
The love that you've been looking for
The love that you've been searching for.
Is right there inside your door
It's within reach, you just need to open yourself up to it.
Little Miss Divinity
A term of endearment to someone who is special.
You're the one that you've been looking for
You have the answers within yourself.
Won't you lay your love on thee?
Love yourself.
If you need a friend then I'll be sailing right by your side
I'll be there for you if you need a friend.
But if you need a lover you must leave it all behind
If you want a romantic relationship, you need to let go of your past.
And if you need direction, the world can seem unkind
It can be tough to find your way in life.
So listen closely my love
Pay attention to what I'm about to say.
You have time
Don't stress because you have all the time you need.
You're doing fine
You're doing well, don't worry.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRIAN DOUGANS, GARRY COBAIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind