Undoubtedly one of the most flamboyant frontmen of the '90s, David McAlmont also gained a reputation as one of Britain's most underrated vocalists, rising to prominence as one half of McAlmont & Butler (alongside Suede's Bernard Butler). Having dedicated the '90s and 2000s to developing a musical career comprising both solo and collaborative work, McAlmont branched into poignant performance art and academia through the 2010s, before striking up a strong partnership with producer Hifi Sean in the early 2020s. Born in Croydon in 1967, McAlmont moved to Guyana with his mother and sister at the age of 13, and after becoming a born-again Christian, he began singing at his Pentecostal church. After completing his A-levels in history and literature, he returned to Croydon in 1987, where he met Saul Freeman through an advertisement in Melody Maker. The pair formed Thieves but split before they released their debut album, and after supporting Morrissey on tour, McAlmont released the album under his own name. In 1994 he teamed up with ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler to form McAlmont & Butler. Despite a critically acclaimed debut album, The Sound of McAlmont & Butler, and a Top Ten U.K. single, the anthemic "Yes," it was a short-lived project. The pair only performed in public twice and by the time of their second single "You Do," they were in the middle of an acrimonious split. In 1997 McAlmont collaborated with David Arnold on his Shaken & Stirred album, a collection of reworkings of James Bond themes. Their cover of Shirley Bassey's "Diamonds Are Forever" reached the Top 40 but attracted more attention for McAlmont's extravagant white catsuit and diamond earrings in the video. The pair teamed up again to pen "Surrender," a k.d. lang track that was in contention to be the Tomorrow Never Dies theme before losing out to Sheryl Crow. A year later, McAlmont released his second solo album, A Little Communication, with contributions from the diverse likes of Jeff Goldblum, Max Beesley, and Craig Armstrong, who then returned the favor by asking McAlmont to provide the vocals for "Snow," a track on his 2002 As If to Nothing album. The same year, in a surprise move, McAlmont & Butler regrouped to record their second album, Bring It Back. Unlike the last time around, the duo promoted the record, performing regularly and doing interviews together, which led to a Top 20 placing and a hit lead single, "Falling." In 2003, McAlmont discovered an enthusiasm for jazz, and performed at a John Coltrane tribute concert at the Barbarican, DJ'ed at the London Jazz Festival, and worked on Courtney Pine's Devotion album. The release of McAlmont's third solo album, Be, was shelved by Hut Records, but in 2004 he released Set One: You Go to My Head, a collection of Cassandra Wilson and Betty Carter-inspired standards. In 2006 he made his first moves into academia, taking on the role of a tutor for London's Architectural Association Interprofessional Studio (AAIS). After providing backing vocal work on several of Butler's projects, including for Duffy and Sharleen Spiteri, McAlmont returned to the studio in full for 2009's The Glare, a collaboration with composer Michael Nyman. Another collaboration arrived with 2011's Smokehouse EP alongside Guy Davies -- a prior contributor on his solo albums -- under the alias of Fingersnap. Still practicing at the AAIS throughout this period, he returned to higher education himself in 2012, pursuing a degree in the History of Western Art & Architecture at the University of London. The mid-2010s saw McAlmont continue his prolific performance career: following a brief 2011 tour with Fingersnap, he was enlisted for 2013's Wall to Wall: Bowie, re-imagining David Bowie classics alongside musical director Janette Mason. This was followed in 2014 and 2015 by another series of shows alongside Butler. An interest in exploring queer narratives saw him branch out to performance art, contributing to the National Trust's Prejudice & Pride project with the performance girl.boy.child (2017), performing Portrait of a Black Queer Briton (2018) at London's National Portrait Gallery, and creating the short film Permissible Beauty alongside photographer Robert Taylor and filmmaker Mark Thomas. He returned to the studio for the 2019 Alex Webb collaboration The Last Bohemians (as McAlmont & Webb) and again in 2020, working with producer Hifi Sean on "Bunker to Bunker." The duo quickly struck up a strong partnership, releasing the EP Beautiful (2023), followed by the albums Happy Ending (2023) and Daylight (2024), the former of which landed at number eight on the U.K. charts. ~ Jon O'Brien & David Crone, Rovi