Cocteau Twins bassist and multi-instrumentalist and Bella Union co-founder Simon Raymonde is set to release his award-winning autobiography In One Ear: Cocteau Twins, Ivor and Me in North America this November via Bonnier Books. The book is both an intimate self-portrait and a sweeping chronicle of alternative music history, tracing a life defined by sound—from a childhood surrounded by orchestration and studio sessions via his father Ivor Raymonde (the legendary producer, musician and arranger for acts such as the Walker Brothers and songwriter for artists including Dusty Springfield), to the dream-pop heights of Cocteau Twins and the visionary label that followed. Told with humor, tenderness, and candor, it captures the perspective of a musician who has lived several creative lives, all while navigating the bittersweet reality of going deaf in one ear.
Raymonde joined Cocteau Twins in 1983, completing the definitive trio alongside Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie. His entrance transformed the group, introducing melodic structure and harmonic counterpoint that would help shape the ethereal sound that defined the band’s later records. Albums such as Treasure (1984), Victorialand (1986), Blue Bell Knoll (1988), and the universally acclaimed Heaven or Las Vegas (1990) turned the band from underground outliers into cult heroes. Raymonde’s basslines and arrangements brought emotional clarity to Fraser’s angelic glossolalia, while Guthrie’s layers of delay and reverb pushed the group into mythic territory. Their final two albums, Four-Calendar Café (1993) and Milk & Kisses (1996), hinted at both maturity and fracture before the trio parted ways the following year.
Alongside his work with Cocteau Twins, Raymonde contributed to 4AD’s collaborative project This Mortal Coil, lending piano, bass, and arrangement skills to the collective’s shadowed dreamworld. He appeared on the albums It’ll End in Tears (1984) and Filigree & Shadow (1986), performing on haunting reinterpretations of songs by Big Star, Tim Buckley, and Colin Newman. His playing deepened the cinematic quality that became 4AD’s hallmark—brooding, baroque, and oddly timeless. Raymonde’s dual life as both band member and studio collaborator encapsulated the spirit of the 1980s independent scene: creative, insular, and defiantly idiosyncratic.
After Cocteau Twins dissolved, Raymonde turned his focus from performance to preservation. In 1997, he co-founded Bella Union, envisioning a label built on the principles of artistic freedom and compassion he wished he’d found earlier in his career. The label’s first release was Raymonde’s own solo album Blame Someone Else, followed soon by a wave of signings that would come to define 21st-century indie music. When Guthrie departed, Raymonde continued alone, turning Bella Union into a model of modern independence.
Over nearly three decades, Bella Union has become home to an extraordinary array of artists, from Beach House and Fleet Foxes to Father John Misty, John Grant, Ezra Furman, and Midlake. Under Raymonde’s stewardship, the label has earned multiple “Independent Record Label of the Year” awards and built a catalogue that balances introspection with innovation. His experience as an artist informs his leadership—empathetic, exacting, and unflinchingly loyal. In One Ear reflects not only on his years in studios and tour vans but also on the emotional labor of supporting others’ creativity, a continuation of the mentorship he received from his father, the late Ivor Raymonde, whose orchestral and songwriting work for Dusty Springfield and others remains a touchstone of British pop sophistication.
Even as he guided other musicians’ careers, Raymonde eventually returned to making music himself. His project Lost Horizons, formed with Richie Thomas of Dif Juz, bridges generations of Bella Union talent. The band’s 2017 debut Ojalá and the double album In Quiet Moments (2020–2021) feature collaborations with Marissa Nadler, John Grant, Ural Thomas, Karen Peris, and more—music that feels like a spiritual continuation of the luminous melancholy first heard in Cocteau Twins.
To celebrate the book’s release, Raymonde will appear in conversation at a series of in-store events across the United States, sharing stories and reflections from his remarkable career.
- Nov. 10 — Seattle, WA @ Easy Street Records
- Nov. 11 — San Francisco, CA @ TBA
- Nov. 14 — Los Angeles, CA @ Book Soup
- Nov. 15 — New York, NY @ Rough Trade Records
Each event will feature an intimate discussion on In One Ear, followed by a Q&A and signing session. Updates and full details can be found at linktr.ee/mrsimonraymonde.
In One Ear: Cocteau Twins, Ivor and Me is out in North America on November 18 via Bonnier Books.
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