Ensemble, which throughout its inception in 1998 has been both a group and a solo project, was started after Frenchman Olivier Alary dropped out of college and moved to London to start a music career. Although an initial meeting with then newly formed FatCat Records seemed promising, Alary chose instead to release Ensemble's debut (at that point vocalist Chanelle Kimber was also a part) on Rephlex Records in 2000. This was enough to get Icelandic superstar Björk's attention, who had Alary remix two of her songs, "Sun in My Mouth" and "Cocoon," as well as write a track for her 2004 record Medúlla. Wanting to continue the mixing of folk-pop over a large symphonic background, Alary began working on pieces for his next album, and in 2006, Ensemble, which featured guest appearances from Lou Barlow and Chan Marshall, among others, came out on FatCat. ~ Marisa Brown