Ex-Thieves instrumentalist Saul Freeman teamed up with solo artist Nicola Hitchcock forming Mandalay in the mid-nineties. Incorporating trip-hop loops similar to Portishead and Nicola Hitchcock's vocal perfections, the duo earned props throughout the latter part of the decade in their native U.K., specifically with the albums Empathy and Instinct. Madonna even called Mandalay her new favorite band in fall 2000. Mandalay had signed to V2 by mid-2000 and prepped for their stateside major-label release, Solace, in spring 2001. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, Rovi