London Grammar

2009–12: Early career

Vocalist Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman are originally from London and met in a hall of residence at the University of Nottingham during their first year in 2009. Rothman saw a picture of Reid on Facebook with a guitar and sent her a message to see if she wanted to collaborate. They were joined by Northampton native Dominic 'Dot' Major (keyboard, djembe, drums) a year later, after he began playing music together with Rothman. They chose the name as "not only was it where we're from, but London is also so international and multicultural that it actually felt like quite a universal name in a way."

After completing their studies in the middle of 2011, the trio moved down to London to pursue a career in music. By the end of the year they were managed by Conor Wheeler who began promoting them. The band began by playing low-key gigs at local bars, honing their material. They soon found themselves noticed by a number of A&R people, and they were signed with the Ministry of Sound while Big Life took over the management duties in the second half of 2012. In the same year the trio did some early recordings with Rollo Armstrong of Faithless and Liam Howe of Sneaker Pimps. Later in the year, the band continued to work with Tim Bran of Dreadzone and Roy Kerr, and by the end of the year most of the recording had been completed. On 12 December 2012, the trio posted their song "Hey Now" on YouTube which immediately received a large amount of attention.

2013–2016: If You Wait

Their EP Metal & Dust followed in February 2013, and it made the top five of the iTunes chart in Australia. It created a lot of interest, and the band received significant airplay on national radio. They released their single "Wasting My Young Years" in June 2013, peaking at number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. The band also featured on Disclosure's #1 UK album Settle with the track "Help Me Lose My Mind", released in June 2013. The band has recorded two live sessions for Radio 1, and they played at ten summer 2013 European music festivals. In September 2013, Reid was at the centre of a "Radio 1 Breakfast Show" Twitter controversy, which was deemed to be sexist. The backlash forced the corporation to apologise while the trio "decided to stay out of it".

On 1 September 2013, they released "Strong", which peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. The following week, on 9 September, they released their debut studio album If You Wait, which peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. It also peaked at number 2 on the Australian Albums Chart, number 11 on the French Albums Chart, number 13 on the Irish Albums Chart, and number 22 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. The band are signed to Columbia Records in the USA.

On 13 January 2014, the band performed "Strong" and "Wasting My Young Years" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, marking their debut performance on American television. On 1 April 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that London Grammar's If You Wait was the fifth top-selling album of 2014 so far, with sales of over 138,000 copies (356,000 total). London Grammar won an Ivor Novello Award in the Best Song Musically and Lyrically category for "Strong". And later in 2014 they won two awards, "Independent Breakthrough of The Year" and "PPL Award For Most Played New Independent Act", at the AIM Independent Music Awards.

On 2 September 2014 French fashion house Dior released an advertisement campaign for J'Adore that featured the song "Hey Now" (The Shoes remix).

2017–present: New music

On 1 January 2017, London Grammar shared their new single "Rooting For You", marking the group’s first new music since their debut album in 2013. On 1 February 2017 they shared the second single "Big Picture" via their Facebook page.

Musical style

London Grammar's music has been described as "a blend of ambient, ethereal and classical sounds" with melancholy guitar, soaring vocals, and plaintive lyrics. Hannah Reid's powerful, brooding vocals, prominent on all of London Grammar's tracks released to date, are often compared to those of Judie Tzuke and Florence Welch. The songs are a collaborative effort as Reid explains: "I write the lyrics and the top lines. But the songs initiate from all three of us. Dot will write a piano part or a music score. Dan will add some guitars." She describes the songs as "emotionally affected" and "writes about people who come in and out of my life."

Collaborations

London Grammar has collaborated with the duo Disclosure on their first album Settle. The song "Help Me Lose My Mind" was written by Hannah Reid and the Lawrence brothers.

Discography