One of electronic music’s most enduring storytellers revisits a city he last played more than a decade ago, bringing a career-spanning journey of Balearic emotion, cinematic trance, and timeless club energy.
Few artists have shaped the sound of modern electronic music quite like Chicane. Since announcing himself in 1997 with the seminal single Offshore and the landmark debut album Far From The Maddening Crowds, Nick Bracegirdle has carved out a long and influential career defined by melody, atmosphere, and adventurous collaborations. His follow-up album Behind The Sun stormed into the UK top 5 in 2000 and cemented him as a defining force of that era, with tracks such as Saltwater and the global chart-topping Don’t Give Up with Bryan Adams helping soundtrack an entire generation of sunsets in Ibiza and beyond.
Across nine studio albums including Somersault, Giants, Thousand Mile Stare, The Sum of Its Parts, A Place You Cannot Remember, The Place You Cannot Forget, Nevertheless and Everything We Had to Leave Behind, Chicane has delivered a catalogue that blends Balearic warmth with stadium-sized emotion. The numbers speak for themselves. Everything We Had to Leave Behind has racked up more than 18 million streams on Spotify alone, while his last five albums hit number one in territories including the UK, Italy, Netherlands, USA, Belgium, Australia, and Malaysia.
Never one to sit still, Nick has worked with an eclectic cast of collaborators including Sir Tom Jones, Natasha Bedingfield, Adam Young, Lisa Gerrard, Paul Aiden and emerging talents such as Joseph Aquilina and Icelandic group Vigri. This open-minded approach has kept the Chicane sound moving forward rather than locked to nostalgia. It is the same attitude that led to the creation of the long-running SunSets show, now syndicated worldwide and pulling more than twelve thousand downloads a day, along with a series of special live editions staged everywhere from Dubai beaches to snowy mountain tops.
Chicane’s live presence has evolved into its own powerful chapter. DJ sets, full live band shows, and even expansive symphonic performances have all become part of the project’s identity. Over the past twenty five years he has appeared on stages across every continent, including Glastonbury, V Festival, Stereosonic, and countless festivals throughout Japan, Europe, India, Singapore, and beyond. Whether dropping classic anthems like Poppiholla or Love Love Love Here I Come, or exploring deeper cuts from his album catalogue, the Chicane live experience has always been grounded in connection.
Which brings us to now. More than twelve years since he last played Birmingham, Chicane is finally set to return, taking over XOYO on 29 November with a DJ show packed with new material, club-driven cuts, and those unmistakable melodic moments that define his sound. Ahead of the show, we caught up with Nick to talk studio life, legacy, the magic of SunSets, and why after nearly thirty years in the game he still feels he is only one third of the way into his journey.
We caught up with Nick for a chat about the past, present of future of Chicane.
It has been more than twelve years since you last played in Birmingham. What does it mean to finally return to the city, and what can people expect from your show at XOYO?
Crikey 12 years I have no idea how it’s been that long since we’ve been back to Birmingham well I’m bringing the DJ show which is well. It’s exactly what it says. It is. We also do obviously that a live show and symphonic show so I’ll be playing all the latest stuff that we’ve been writing and recording and some of the latest club cuts & really looking forward to coming back to be perfectly honest. I can’t believe it’s been that long.
Your sound has always balanced emotion and atmosphere in a way few artists can. How do you approach keeping that signature Chicane feel while still evolving with each new release?
Yeah I guess you’re right. The chicane sound is one which is kind of encapsulates an approach to Melody atmosphere in an emotive way. I don’t really find that I actively consciously work at making that happen within each track. It’s just how it comes out. That’s kind of what I do that is my modus operandi I guess But you know and try to mix that approach with stuff that’s happening currently and really whatever that is inspiring me really so it all kind of comes out that way, interestingly in the past we thought about releasing some stuff under a pseudonym but after a little while everything that I do sounds distinctively like me so that was a poor idea.
‘Offshore’, ‘Saltwater’, and ‘Don’t Give Up’ are tracks that defined a generation of club-goers. How do you look back on that era now, and what does legacy mean to you as an artist still pushing forward?
How do I look back up on those tunes? I mean some of them are now 30 years ago which is kind of crazy I guess I’m very fortunate that they were part of an era. They were that defined that sounds that we all kind of grew up with and Every weekend people were out and it’s a very different landscape now clubbing and a different generation of people but it’s some it’s obviously pretty fantastic to have those records as a legacy and as a kind of signpost to where I’ve come from but also in the same breath you know it’s 2026 next year will be our 30th year anniversary and Still very very much pushing on writing excited about new music and all that you know I’m one of those guys that Im what we would describe as an 11 and by what I mean by that is I am always in the studio I’m always pushing. I feel like I’m about a third third into my career there’s loads to do and I panic a bit that I’m gonna run out of time and croak before I’ve got to where I really wanna be And I’m one of those writers. It’s just always happening so those records in the past amazing and I’ll add also given today’s technology I think about how how I put those records together back in those day back in the area in 30 years ago and it’s kind of it’s mental that that was even possible with the equipment we had at the time, but yeah, very proud to have been involved in those records.
Your ‘SunSets’ radio show has become a real touchpoint for fans of melodic and Balearic electronic music. What inspired you to start it, and how has it influenced your creative process over the years?
So it’s great that the show is appreciated so much I mean it’s been going for about 11 years now which is crazy but really the initial ideas for that show was trying to find something to encompass what the chicane ethos was and it was 1 foot in Downtempo beautiful music and the other foot in big anthems which is very much kind of Defines who I am really I do both of those genres and wanted to put the two together and been fortunate enough to be able to do the show live a couple times it’s an amazing locations.. It’s kind of a labour of love. It’s really lovely that people still calling in for their soundtrack selection for the show and people love the show; I thinks its part of my DNA now.
Last year’s album ‘Trampolines’ and its beatless version showed a different, more reflective side of your production. What made you want to strip those tracks back, and how did that process change the way you see your own music?
How very interesting that you picked up on the fact that I kind of wanted to strip the records back, when you get when you take the beats off you get a closer look at what was going on there and I felt some of the most of this tracks actually on trampolines deserve that and It’s like you get invited in to have a closer look at the music that that goes on and they kind of manifest themselves as different things when you take the beats off what I did notice when I did that there was loads of click and pops and stuff that the beats were hiding and took me ages to get rid of all the little all the little artefacts that were there it was it was quite something but yeah, an interesting thing to do.
You’ve been revisiting some classic material with the 25th anniversary of ‘Don’t Give Up’ and the new version of ‘Oxygen’. Do you see these moments as nostalgia, reinvention, or a bridge between generations of listeners?
To be honest, my music kind of remains in a kind of fluid sense by that I mean I’m always going back and tweaking stuff and doing versions. I’ve got versions of things that nobody has cause I envisioned it in a slightly different way after it got released and stuff, so a lot of my stuff psychologically remains fluid.
Your live shows have become a major part of this next chapter, from full-band performances to orchestral events. How do you decide what shape a Chicane live experience should take, and what do you enjoy most about bringing those sounds to life on stage?
Yeah, we’ve been touring very much this year and next year is looking like to be no different. I think the project matured to a place that I’ve always wanted it to be with the advent of the symphonic show and that was a behemoth of a creature to bring into fruition it was a phenomenal project which we greatly hope to be able to do again, originally just a once in a lifetime show which we which is what we said we were doing we had such we’ve had such enormous reaction to it. We’re gonna try and do it again and we brought the live band show back for the first time in 10 years this year as well, which was really cool at the Shepherds Bush Empire so we’re looking to do more of a more touring generally I’m mean I’m already off to Australia. Philippines I think you might even find me in the Ukraine maybe for a show next year let’s see being out playing music to the people in real time is something very special and I don’t really ever tired of.
‘An Evening With Chicane’ At XOYO Birmingham is on the 29th November , 2025 and is sold out but reach out to maybe grab any late tickets here.
