Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit deliver bright, deceptively simple pop that echoes the Vaselines, the Twilight Sad, and the Clean, projecting a more assertive presence than their name implies while still reflecting their restless, anxious character. The group formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2003 when guitarist Scott Hutchison and his brother Grant, a drummer who has always concealed his surname alongside his sibling, began capturing early song demos. After encouragement from relatives and peers, the pair recruited their friend Billy Kennedy on second guitar, and the three started performing across Glasgow pubs and clubs. Building a local following, they prepared their debut album, shifting from the home studio used for the initial recordings to Glasgow’s Diving Bell Studio under producer Marcus Mackay.

Sing the Greys appeared on the band’s own Hits the Fan Records in mid-2006. Positive notices prompted Universal to secure U.K. and U.S. distribution through Fat Cat. Their profile rose sharply in America following a strong showcase at the 2007 South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin, Texas, and the domestic issue of the album further expanded their audience. The second album, Midnight Organ Fight, reached stores in April 2008, by which time keyboardist Andy Monaghan had joined. The concert recording Quietly Now!, alternately titled Liver! Lung! FR!, surfaced in 2009 while the quintet, now including new member Gordon Skene, prepared The Winter of Mixed Drinks. This expansive, optimistic collection emerged early in 2010. An untitled EP limited to the subsequent tour dates appeared in July 2011 and later became available to newsletter subscribers as a restricted 7-inch pressing.

Ahead of their fourth album they issued the State Hospital EP in September 2012, which featured a guest turn from Aidan Moffat. Marking their first output on Atlantic after departing Fat Cat in 2010, the EP recalled the verbal acuity of earlier work and served as a preview for Pedestrian Verse, released in February 2013. Crafted with producer Leo Abrahams, the record stood as a peak of emotionally resonant and often stadium-scale songs. It also marked the first occasion every track was composed collectively rather than chiefly by frontman Hutchison. While embracing the shared method—he declared he would “never [again] write a Frightened Rabbit record in the way I used to”—Hutchison also pursued solo work, issuing the self-titled Owl John album in 2014 with assistance from Monaghan and touring guitarist Simon Liddell. Later that year Skene departed over musical disagreements and was succeeded permanently by Liddell.

The band relocated to New York in 2015 to track their second Atlantic release under the guidance of the National’s Aaron Dessner. Painting of a Panic Attack sustained the group-writing approach established on Pedestrian Verse and included the somber lead single “Death Dream” before arriving in April 2016. Two years afterward, on May 10, 2018, Scott Hutchison was discovered deceased by suicide. Scheduled shows were canceled and the remaining members announced the project would end, yet in August they reconvened for a one-off concert honoring Hutchison’s songs and life, with additional vocalists from their circle filling in.