History Combine the Victorious

Combine the Victorious is the sublime blend of a David Lynch movie, Eurythmics and Portishead. Beautiful melodies with thoughtful lyrics and arpeggiated notes written from the rain soaked streets of Vancouver, Canada.

Combine the Victorious formed in Vancouver in 2007, growing from a spirited collaboration between husband and wife: producer Mark R Henning, formerly of Pure and Blisterene, and fashion designer Isabelle Dunlop.

Already independently successful in their chosen fields, their instinct for collaboration was soon realized on their debut full-length, The World Over. The record received both critical and popular praise, including inclusion on compilations as far afield as Toronto and the Czech Republic! Lead single, Blue Kitchen went on to become the theme song for the television series About A Girl - one of 8 songs licensed from the record.

Drawing upon this initial success, Combine the Victorious extended to found the wider Boutique Empire collective, gathering Sex With Strangers, Gilles Zolty, Guilty About Girls and other artists connected with the Vancouver scene. Despite this wider commitment - Mark reuniting with Jordy Birch to form Guilty About Girls, and Isabelle singing with both Guilty About Girls and Sex With Strangers - Combine the Victorious continued to evolve.

Subsequent releases, Disagreements and Crumbling Hearts saw the band refining their musical identity, distilling to a powerful, evocative essence, perfectly captured on the standout track from the Crumbling Hearts, Glasgow, where sumptuous guitars weave in and out of Mark's wily groove, a perfect backdrop for Isabelle's melancholy lyric and heart-breaking melody.

Following a European tour as a duo to support the release of Crumbling Hearts, including showcases in Stockholm and London, the band began writing its follow up, the full length Autonomous album. After almost three years of writing and band member additions and changes, Mark and Isabelle collaborated with Mark's former Pure drummer, Leigh Grant, guitarist Don Harrison as well as Stefan Sigerson to record Autonomous. A twelve song collection of brand new tracks blended with remixes of past favourite songs the album fuses elements of electronica, rock, dance and pop into a unique and compelling soundscape.

discography:

2021Thunder(Boutique Empire)

2020What's Going On In Your Head(Boutique Empire)

2019The Bolsheviks(Boutique Empire)

2017Real Life Turns Me On (Kreap Backroom Orgy Remix)(Boutique Empire)

2015 Autonomous (Boutique Empire)

2012 Crumbling Hearts (Boutique Empire)

2012 Paros (Boutique Empire)

2012 Glasgow (Boutique Empire)

2011 California (Boutique Empire)

2010 Boutique Empire:Rec'10 compilation (Boutique Empire)

2008 Long Distance Compilation (Azil/Boutique Empire)

2008 Disagreements (Boutique Empire)

2007 The World Over (hddm)

www.combinethevictorious.com

www.boutiqueempire.com

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