Clean Bandit

British dance outfit Clean Bandit carved out mainstream appeal by fusing classical instrumentation with dance-pop, resulting in a rhythmically insistent yet polished aesthetic frequently bolstered by prominent guest singers. Their breakthrough arrived via the multi-platinum international sensation “Rather Be,” featuring Jess Glynne, which appeared on the 2014 album New Eyes; subsequent British number-one singles that also fared well globally—“Rockabye” with Sean Paul and Anne-Marie, “Symphony” with Zara Larsson, and “Solo” with Demi Lovato—were later collected on the 2018 release What Is Love? The group returned to the U.K. Top Ten in 2020 with “Tick Tock” featuring 24kGoldn and followed it in 2021 with “Higher” featuring Iann Dior.

The ensemble was established in 2008 by Cambridge school friends Grace Chatto on cello, percussion, and vocals, Jack Patterson on bass, keys, piano, and vocals, Luke Patterson on drums, and Neil Amin-Smith on violin and piano. Performing initially under the name Chatto Quartet at university events, the classically trained string players tackled works by J.S. Bach and drew inspiration from Jacqueline du Pré, yet their post-gig listening often turned to garage, 2-step, Craig David, and Arcade Fire. Acquaintances producer Jon Wandeck and MC Ssegamic, known to the quartet through photographic collaborations, prompted the pivotal invitation to contribute strings to a house track, at which point the group adopted the Clean Bandit moniker. With Ssegamic on vocals they issued the eclectic “Telephone Banking” in summer 2011, followed by the Dance Armstrong mixtape in 2012 and the Mozart’s House EP in 2013. The title track of that EP was included on New Eyes, issued by Atlantic Records in 2014.

Although early cuts “A+E” and “Dust Clears” registered only modest U.K. chart traction, the Jess Glynne-assisted “Rather Be,” New Eyes’ fourth single, propelled the band into worldwide prominence. The multi-platinum recording ranked as the second-highest-selling single in Britain for 2014 and captured the Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2015, allowing Clean Bandit to sustain chart presence with two further singles drawn from the same album well into 2016.

Amin-Smith departed the lineup in late 2016, just days before the release of “Rockabye” featuring Sean Paul and Anne-Marie. That single became the group’s second British chart-topper, reached the Billboard Top Ten, and earned platinum certification across Europe as well as in the United States and Australia. Clean Bandit continued their hit streak with another U.K. number one, “Symphony” featuring Zara Larsson, and the Top Five entry “I Miss You” featuring Julia Michaels. Their fourth major success of the period arrived in 2018 with the summery “Solo” featuring Demi Lovato. “Baby” with Marina and the Diamonds and Luis Fonsi preceded the arrival of the second studio album, What Is Love?, which also showcased Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora, OutKast’s Big Boi, Craig David, and additional collaborators. A 2020 team-up with 24kGoldn produced the Top Ten U.K. single “Tick Tock,” while 2021 brought further releases including “Higher” with Iann Dior and “Drive” with Topic and Wes Nelson.