Hurts

The British pair Hurts crafts dramatic, synth-driven pop drawing on a carefully assembled range of inspirations that spans Krautrock from the 1970s, new wave of the 1980s, and R&B from the 1990s. Their refined approach first appeared on the 2010 debut album Happiness. That breakthrough record reached number four on the British album chart and number two in Austria, Germany, Poland, and Switzerland, igniting the duo’s devoted European following. From that point onward the pair broadened their palette, exploring lavish orchestral textures on 2013’s Exile before leaning further into immediate pop melodies with 2017’s Desire.

After first crossing paths in Manchester in 2005, vocalist Theo Hutchcraft and keyboardist/guitarist Adam Anderson launched several projects together, among them Bureau and Daggers; the latter group secured a deal with Label Fandango in 2007. Daggers issued the high-energy electro-pop single “Money/Magazine,” yet Hutchcraft and Anderson grew dissatisfied with the band’s trajectory. Following a notably unsuccessful A&R showcase in London, they dissolved the group.

Retreating to a basement studio under the new name Hurts, the duo pursued a leaner, more introspective sound that replaced Daggers’ abrasive edge with sustained synth-pop drama. Collaborating online with Swedish producer Jonas Quant, they captured three early tracks: “Wonderful Life,” “Evelyn,” and “Unspoken.” In June 2009 the stark black-and-white self-produced video for “Wonderful Life” spread rapidly online, prompting a July signing with RCA’s Major Label imprint. Additional songs posted on MySpace, videos for “Blood, Tears & Gold” and “Better Than Love,” and growing radio airplay of “Wonderful Life” further enlarged their audience through the remainder of 2009 and into 2010.

Having waited to perform live until they assembled a full repertoire, Hurts made their concert debut in Berlin in January 2010. Subsequent shows throughout the U.K. and Europe strengthened their grassroots support. In March 2010 the single “Better Than Love” entered the U.K. singles chart at number 50. Around the same period the duo recorded “Devotion,” featuring backing vocals from pop superstar Kylie Minogue. Hurts also supplied a live in-studio cover of Minogue’s 1994 hit single “Confide in Me” for The Sun website.

Happiness, the band’s first full-length album, arrived in August 2010 and debuted at number four on the U.K. albums chart, moving more than 25,000 copies in its opening week and becoming that year’s fastest-selling debut by a British group. Singles including “Better Than Love,” “Wonderful Life,” and “Stay” helped the record achieve widespread success across Europe and markedly raised the duo’s profile. Recognition followed later in 2010 with a top ranking in the BBC’s Sound of 2010 poll, a German BAMBI award, and an MTV Europe Music Award nomination. In 2011 a prominent Glastonbury Festival appearance earned further acclaim, voted the festival’s best set by NME readers. That same year Hurts headlined their first European tour, concluding with a concert at London’s Brixton Academy that featured Kylie Minogue as special guest.

In December 2012, ahead of their next album and consistent with their history of sleek, meticulously crafted videos, Hurts released a long-form promotional clip for “The Road,” a track inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name and J.G. Ballard’s Crash. The 2013 follow-up album Exile, produced by Hutchcraft and Anderson alongside Quant and Dan Grech-Marguerat, debuted at number nine on the U.K. albums chart and reached the Top Ten in seven European territories including Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. While retaining the core new-wave and Krautrock influences, Exile introduced more orchestral and rock instrumentation for a nuanced, slightly more contemporary texture.

Surrender, the band’s third studio album, appeared in 2015 with production contributions from Quant, Stuart Price (Madonna, the Killers), and Ariel Rechtshaid (HAIM, Vampire Weekend). Singles such as “Some Kind of Heaven,” “Lights,” and “Slow” accompanied the release, which peaked at number 12 in the U.K., number one in Switzerland, and number eight in Germany. Two years later Desire arrived, pushing further toward hook-driven mainstream pop. Powered by the singles “Beautiful Ones” and “Ready to Go,” it reached number 21 in Britain and reinforced the group’s established European audience. In 2020 Hurts issued their fifth studio album, Faith. Produced by Hutchcraft and Anderson with Martin Forslund and Joe Janiak, the record balanced pop hooks against an early-’90s goth and industrial atmosphere.