To: First Class
From: Entertainment Muse
Date: Classified
Subject: Musical Phenomenon

If you play around with the layers of meaning in the word Classified, you come up with several permutations: Classical, a reference to the ongoing are-they-aren’t-they debate concerning bond’s musical style; Classic as in first-class or excellent, a reference to their academic and musical abilities; Classy as in superior and stylish; and then there’s the hush-hush meaning of Classified, alluding to a certain suave and sexy spy of renown.

All are relevant to the perception and status of bond, who have defied their detractors and become a musical phenomenon selling three million albums in a field where going into five figures is considered doing well. Their third album Classified is set to bump those figures further into the stratosphere.

It’s not actually hard to figure out why. Sure, Haylie Ecker (first violin), Eos Chater (second violin), Tania Davis (viola) and Gay-Yee Westerhoff (cello) are highly photogenic. But as one of them has pointed out, if that’s all that was needed for success, then supermodels would be able to sell records. There’s a deeper reason. It’s because underpinning everything lies individual musical virtuosity and the sharpest of ears for what a global audience wants to hear. Bond are entertainers and see no shame in that. They are a genuinely genre-defying act, willing to go beyond category to explore the joy of music regardless of the cultural hamstrings that restrict the creativity of so many classically trained musicians.

Classified is a return to a more classically oriented style, put over with their trademark verve and panache. With it come explorations of other styles, from African and electro beats, hip hop to Latin, and for the first time a sliver of jazz.

The bonding that was part of the inspiration for their name still holds true four years on. “Our reasons for doing this are all the same. Normally when groups don’t last there’s some sort of conflict of interest; people have different ideas of where they want to go. But we’ve always wanted the same thing”, says Tania. This can be encapsulated in seeking the challenge of the new and wanting to have fun.

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