London Grammar

London Grammar are a British trip hop trio formed by Hannah Reid, Dot Major and Dan Rothman.[4] Their début EP Metal & Dust was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings Ltd.[5] Their début album If You Wait was released on 9 September 2013.

History
2009–2012: Early career

Vocalist Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman met in a residence hall 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. Multi-instrumentalist Dot Major (keyboard, djembe, drums) was added later, after being introduced to the band by Rothman's girlfriend. The band began by playing low-key gigs at local bars.[4][5] Several years later, on 12 December 2012, the trio posted their song "Hey Now" on YouTube (as of 15 October 2013, it has received over 1.5 million views).[6]
2013–present: If You Wait
Main article: If You Wait

Their EP Metal & Dust followed in February 2013, and it made the top five of the iTunes chart in Australia. They released their single "Wasting My Young Years" in June 2013, peaking to 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.[7] The band has recorded two live sessions for Radio 1 and they played at ten Summer 2013 European music festivals.

On 1 September 2013, they released "Strong", which peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. The following week, on the 9th, they released their début studio album If You Wait, which peaked to number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, also peaking 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.
Musical style

London Grammar's music has been described as "a blend of ambient, ethereal and classical sounds"[8] 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.[9] Reid also contributes to the band through her self-written lyrics which she describes as "emotionally affected". As disclosed in an interview with a Glamour UK magazine, she "writes about people who come in and out of my life." The song "Wasting My Young Years", which has received over 1.8 million views on YouTube, was written about her ex-boyfriend.[10]

References

^ Paul Lester. "New band of the day: London Grammar (No 1,497) | Music". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
^ Fenwick, Tom. "London Grammar - If You Wait / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
^ Hart, Tina (28 June 2013). "Warner/Chappell sign London Grammar". Music Week. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ a b Paul Lester (22 April 2013). "New band of the day London Grammar (No 1,497) : Music : theguardian.com". New Band of the Day. The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2013. ... Knowles, Robin (4 June 2013). "Introducing... London Grammar". BBC. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ a b James Lachno (13 June 2013). "London Grammar – New Faces". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ London Grammar (12 December 2012). "London Grammar - Hey Now - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
^ 2013-06-15 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive | Official Charts
^ London Grammar: 'We've been given time to develop naturally' | Gigwise
^ London Grammar: 'We've gone as pop as we can' - interview - Music Interview - Digital Spy
^ London Grammar Interview Debut Album Details – Metal & Dust (Glamour.com UK)