For many years, the Charlatans UK were perceived as the also-rans of Madchester, the group that didn't capture the zeitgeist like the Stone Roses or the band that failed to match the mad genre-bending of the Happy Mondays. Of course, they were more traditional than either of their peers. Working from a Stonesy foundation, the Charlatans added dance-oriented rhythms and layers of swirling organs straight out of '60s psychedelia. At first, the Charlatans had great promise, and their initial singles -- including "The Only One I Know" -- were hits, but as Madchester and "baggy" faded away, the group began to look like a relic. It was commonly assumed that their third album, 1994's Up to Our Hips, was the end of the line. However, the Charlatans made a remarkable comeback in 1995 with their eponymous fourth album, which found them embracing not only the flourishing Britpop movement, but also underground dance and techno, as well as their mainstay of classic rock. The Charlatans UK debuted at number one, and the group was hailed as survivors. Unfortunately, few knew how literal that term was -- as the band was recording its follow-up album in 1996, organist Rob Collins, who had defined the band's sound, died in a car crash. The Charlatans decided to continue as a quartet, and their subsequent album, Tellin' Stories, debuted at number one upon its 1997 release, suggesting that they had become one of the great British journeyman bands of the '90s.

As the group was recording its follow-up to The Charlatans UK, Collins was killed in a drunk driving accident as he headed to the studio. Although Collins was pivotal to the band's signature sound, they carried on without him, completing their fifth album, Tellin' Stories, with the assistance of Primal Scream's keyboardist, Martin Duffy. Tellin' Stories was released in the U.K. in the spring of 1997 to generally strong reviews, and it entered the charts at number one. Two years later Us and Us Only came out, followed in 2001 with the dance-inspired Wonderland. The next year saw two releases, Live It Like You Love It, recorded live in the band's hometown in December 2001, and Songs from the Other Side, a collection of B-sides from 1990-1997. The Charlatans' eighth studio album, Up at the Lake, was issued in 2004, and two years later Simpatico hit the shelves.

In an October 2007 issue of the NME, the band contributed the song Blank Heart, Blank Mind to the magazine's free 'Love Music, Hate Racism' compilation CD. Later the same month, the new single You Cross My Path was released as a free download exclusively through the XFM website. On the 3rd March, 2008, The Charlatans teamed up with Xfm again to become the first UK band to release an album completely free to download via a radio station. This was preceded a week earlier by the second single from the album, Oh! Vanity. The album, titled You Cross My Path, is The Charlatans tenth studio album and is due for a physical CD/LP release on 19 May 2008 on the Cooking Vinyl label to coincide with a full UK tour. Recommended!

Download it:
The Charlatans - You Cross My Path (full album)
The Charlatans @ MySpace