i find that firing the recognizable voice and face of your group is so irrational to me, and why would the record label go along with firing her? they lost money
she was a huge part of why the group worked. The voice, the face, the image. Her charisma and star quality gave the music a kind of narrative pull, like there was a story unfolding, something people could latch onto. That’s presence. And it’s not her fault the spotlight naturally followed her some people just have that gravity
It really feels like they cut her loose right when things were about to tip. Like they fired her at the exact moment the band was on the edge of blowing up into something way bigger, something culturally defining. If they had kept making albums with her, I honestly think they could’ve reached the same mainstream recognition as bands like Hooverphonic, Portishead, or Massive Attack
I like the later albums too, but there’s always that quiet "what if" sitting in the back of my head. What would those records have sounded like if her voice was on it? It’s hard not to picture that alternate timeline