Doppelgänger

The 1990s was a Golden Age for alternative music led by iconic women. Putting together a roster of that era’s frontwomen revealed a staggering wealth of talent: we easily remember the towering cultural impact of Sinéad O’Connor, the fierce grunge-pop dominance of Shirley Manson (Garbage), and the soaring emotional clarity of Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries). Digging deeper into indie, we recall names like Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star), Harriet Wheeler (The Sundays), and the otherworldly Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins.

Yet, for some reason, Curve’s brilliant frontwoman Toni Halliday is routinely omitted from these retrospective lists. This week, we are fixing that mistake and celebrating her immense contribution to the era’s definitive sounds.

Released in March 1992, Curve’s debut full-length album Doppelgänger demands to be played from start to finish without interruption. While I had an immense crush on Toni Halliday just from devouring their studio records and MTV appearances, I never actually saw her perform live. Instead, her presence loomed large through headphones, fronting a band whose sound and era heavily intersected with the British shoegaze and noise-pop scene.

Halliday injected a fierce punk ethos into Curve’s music that was deeply inspired by her appreciation for My Bloody Valentine. The album constructs an uncompromising wall of sound that may not be for everyone, but it functions beautifully as a singular piece of art. The hypnotic noise-pop and electronic beats blend perfectly into one another, anchored by standout tracks like the devastating title track “Doppelgänger,” the icy precision of “Ice That Melts the Tips,” and the driving, industrial-tinged momentum of “Fait Accompli.”

Toni Halliday’s connection to the shoegaze pantheon went far beyond shared musical aesthetics. She was in a long-term relationship with and later married legendary producer Alan Moulder, who engineered and mixed My Bloody Valentine’s seminal releases alongside iconic albums for Ride and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Curve’s music even caught the attention of Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, another frequent collaborator of Moulder’s. Reznor was such a fan that he remixed Curve himself for their 1993 Blackerthreetrackertwo EP.