Formed in the mid-’80s in North Carolina by Daniel and Danny Chavis, The Veldt were an unusual mix of influences, drawing from early 4AD dreampop (Cocteau Twins, Dif Juz) but also Prince and hip hop. The band signed to Capitol Records and in 1989 recorded what was to be their debut album with the Cocteau Twins‘ Robin Guthrie as producer. Sadly those recordings ended up getting shelved and the band were dropped by the label. They wouldn’t get a record out until 1992’s Marigolds EP (produced by Lincoln Fong of Cocteau Twins / Moose) which was followed by their official debut album, Afrodisiac, which was produced by Ray Schulman (The Sundays) and released via Mercury Records.
The Veldt are finally releasing the Guthrie-produced recordings as Illuminated 1989, which has been remastered by Guthrie. They’ve just shared “Aurora Borealis,” which features Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser on backup vocals.
Danny says, “This song was written in 1986 and was included in the first batch of songs we demoed under the name VELDT. Having heard ‘Treasure’ by Cocteau Twins, this song was inspired by that very album and RUN DMC’s ‘Sucker MC’s’ around the same time that year.” Daniel adds, “This would signal our departure from being a band that made people dance to a band that made people confused.”
They’ve made a new video for that and you can watch that, along with another song off the album (“Everlasting Gobstopper”), below.
A release date for Illuminated 1989 has not been set. Stay tuned.