Formed in the mid 1980s in Portsmouth, England by siblings Alison and Jim Shaw, and named after the innumerable mechanical cranes around the city's docks, Cranes are best known for the childlike, high-pitched vocals of lead singer Alison, memorably likened by the NME to "a beautiful siren being slowly strangled on a spiral staircase of hammer-horror guitars".
Early on in their recording and performing career, the music of Cranes borrowed from both the industrial/avant-garde, deconstructive style of bands such as Einsturzende Neubauten, and the ethereal labyrinths of acts like Cocteau Twins. Following a general softening of their sound, the introduction of pop elements to their music, and a world tour with The Cure in 1992, the band's popularity increased, and peaked with the release of the albums Forever and Loved.
The band fell silent for a period of approximately four years after the release of Population 4 in 1997, but did not actually break up. In the early 2000s, they began writing music again, and released Future Songs and Particles and Waves on their own label, Dadaphonic. These albums signified a change in the overall style of their music, emphasising its ambient, ethereal qualities. Despite heading in a more electronic direction, however, the band's music continued to revolve around Alison Shaw's distinctive singing.
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