Faithless began in 1993, when Rollo and Sister Bliss began to make some house tunes. Rollo had recently had the inexplicably popular top ten hit Don't you want me (as Felix), while Sister Bliss had moved from piano and violin to more beat-driven tunes. Some of their early work was with Rollo's sister Florian; she would much later find success under her own right as Dido, and work with the group on a 2002 track.

The duo took on vocalists in 1995, most tracks had the voice of Jamie Catto, though a few featured former Soul II Soul member Maxi Jazz. The group gathered friends on the club circuit, and established themselves as regulars in the lower end of the top 40 - Salve mea, Insomnia and Don't leave all had single plays on Goodiebags's show.

The big breakthrough came at the festival circuit in summer 1996, which brought the group's beat-heavy sound to a new audience, launched their Reverence album into the top 10, and prompted a rash of re-releases. Insomnia was first out of the blocks, making number 3 in October 1996 and spending the rest of the year in the top 20. Salve meareached the top 10 just before Christmas, and an April re-release of Don't leave was pulled in favour of the new track Reverence, which became the group's third top 10 hit. Don't leave did get its second release, but not until November, where it stalled at 21. Unlike the group's more famous hits, this was a softer song, much less in-your-face aggression and showing the human side to the group. We're offering the Floating mix, the aural equivalent of a cloud.

The follow-up album Sunday 8pm was presaged by single God is a dj (August 1998, number 6, and no relation to the 2003 Pink song). Two more singles followed the formula of one heavy (Take the long way home, 15 in Dec 1998) and one lighter (Bring my family back, 14 in April 1999). The group's 2001 album Back to Mine yielded just the one notable song, the number 3 hit We come 1, and 2004's No Roots featured the catchy Mass destruction (number 7) but little else.

The group cashed in their chips in 2005, releasing a greatest hits and issuing a few physical copies so that their old singles were able to chart on downloads. Insomnia rode that wave best of all, spending another three months in the top 75, peaking at 48; a formal re-release in September made number 17. 2006's To All New Arrivals has been almost entirely overlooked - two singles were in one week, gone the next, and Faithless returned whence they came: an act that operates mostly in the shadows of the faceless dance scene.

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