The Blue Nile are a musical group from Glasgow, Scotland.^[4] The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guitar more prominently. Following early championing by established artists such as Rickie Lee Jones and Peter Gabriel^[5] (the band would later work with both acts), the Blue Nile gained critical acclaim, particularly for their first two albums A Walk Across the Rooftops and Hats, and some commercial success in both the UK and the US, which led to the band working with a wide range of musicians from the late 1980s onwards. The band members have also gained a reputation for their avoidance of publicity, their idiosyncratic dealings with the recording industry, and their perfectionism and slow work rate which has resulted in the release of just four albums since the group's formation in 1981. The group appears to have disbanded since the release of their fourth album High in 2004, although there has never been any official confirmation.

Paul Buchanan (born 16 April 1956, Edinburgh, Scotland^[6]) and his childhood friend Robert Bell grew up together in Glasgow and both attended the University of Glasgow in the late 1970s (Buchanan gaining his degree in literature and medieval history;^[6] Bell in mathematics).^[7] Buchanan's civil servant father had been a semi-professional musician and had musical instruments in the house, but it was only after he and Bell had graduated that Buchanan began to think seriously about a career in music.^[8]