Liverpool's Mike Nelson crafts expansive pop anthems under the name BANNERS, drawing on his velvety falsetto to produce tracks that shift between brooding introspection and soaring uplift. A major-label agreement reached in 2015 propelled singles such as "Start a Riot" and "Half Light" to multi-million streaming totals while a series of EPs preceded his first full-length album, Where the Shadow Ends, in 2019. That momentum carried into the following decade through continued releases, among them the 2020 single "Someone to You," the 2021 EP It's Gonna Be OK, and the 2023 project I Wish I Was Flawless, I'm Not.
Nelson began performing as a member of the Liverpool Cathedral Choir and appeared in concert halls across Europe before turning toward original songwriting. Briefly recording as Raines, he chose the BANNERS moniker for his official debut single, "Shine a Light." The rumbling pop anthem displayed Nelson's brooding, Chris Martin-like delivery and quickly secured placement in a FIFA video game trailer during summer 2015. After signing with Island Records, he made his U.S. introduction with the ballad "Start a Riot" late in 2015; the track gathered tens of millions of streams across the next twelve months. Both songs appeared on his five-track debut EP, BANNERS, issued in January 2016, which entered the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. "Half Light" and "Into the Storm" followed in spring and summer, respectively, while the late-2016 love song "Holy Ground" arrived with a music video starring actress Ashley Greene of The Twilight Saga and Rogue.
Following a 2017 U.S. tour alongside German duo Milky Chance, Nelson released his second EP, Empires on Fire. His full-length debut, Where the Shadow Ends, arrived in October 2019 and supported a headlining North American tour; one of its singles, "Someone to You," achieved viral traction and earned gold certification in Australia. BANNERS returned the next year with a third EP, Always Yours, containing acoustic versions of earlier material. The vibrant single "If I Didn't Have You" anchored the July 2021 release It's Gonna Be OK. Throughout the subsequent year Nelson maintained a steady output of singles, the most successful being the ballad "Perfectly Broken"; that track and the uplifting "Keeps Me Going" both featured on the early-2023 EP I Wish I Was Flawless, I'm Not. Already prolific, Nelson increased the pace of single releases during 2023 with "Tell You I Love You," "Have You Ever Loved Someone," and "Anywhere for You," continuing into 2024 with "All That You Made Me."
