King Swamp

King Swamp was a British rock group formed in London in 1988, comprising vocalist Walter Wray, bassist Dave Allen, keyboardist Steve Halliwell, guitarist Dominic Miller, and drummer Martyn Barker, all former members of Shriekback. The band’s breakthrough came with the single "Is This Love?" in 1989, which reached number 21 on the Billboard Album Rock chart, establishing the group’s presence in the UK alternative scene. In the same year they released their self‑titled debut album King Swamp on Virgin Records, followed by the 1990 album Wiseblood, which failed to chart in the United States or the United Kingdom and received negative critical reception, leading to the band’s dissolution later that year. After the breakup, Walter Wray produced the 1993 solo album Foxgloves and Steel Strings, later re‑issued in the United States as Steel Strings in 1996. In 2010 Walter Wray and Steve Halliwell reunited to form Little Machine, collaborating with poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, and later joined The Saturday Girls, the backing group for Lily Rae, Wray’s daughter. Martyn Barker eventually re‑joined Shriekback, while Dave Allen founded Low Pop Suicide and World Domination Recordings.