London Grammar are an English

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band formed in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 2009. The band consists of

Hannah Reid Hannah Felicity May Reid (born 30 December 1989) is the English lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the indie pop band London Grammar. Biography Reid grew up in Acton, and went to school in West London. She received vocal training, and wa ...

, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major. Their debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' Metal & Dust'', was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings, while their debut album, ''

If You Wait ''If You Wait'' is the debut studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 6 September 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings and Ministry of Sound. Seven singles were released from the album: " Metal & Dust", " Wasting My Young Y ...

'', was released a few months later in September. The album reached No. 2 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and was certified Double Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI). The band's second studio album, ''

Truth Is a Beautiful Thing ''Truth Is a Beautiful Thing'' is the second studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar. It was released on 9 June 2017 by the trio's imprint Metal & Dust and Ministry of Sound. Singles " Rooting for You" was released as the album's ...

'', was released in June 2017, reaching No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The latest album, ''

Californian Soil ''Californian Soil'' is the third studio album by English indie pop band London Grammar, released on 16 April 2021 by Metal & Dust and Ministry of Sound. It was initially intended to be released on 12 February 2021, but was postponed for unknow ...

'', was released on 16 April 2021 and became their second-consecutive No. 1 album in the United Kingdom.

History

2009–2012: Early career

Vocalist Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman are originally from London and met in the Ancaster Hall student residence at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

during their first year in 2009. Rothman saw that Reid played the guitar and contacted her to see if she wanted to collaborate. They were joined by

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

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 mid-2010, 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 2013. In the same year, the trio did some early recordings with

Rollo Armstrong Rowland Constantine O'Malley Armstrong (born 8 May 1966), known professionally as Rollo, is an English music producer. He is one half of the remix/production duo Rollo & Sister Bliss and is a founding member of the electronic music group Fait ...

of Faithless and Liam Howe of

Sneaker Pimps Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, '' Becoming X'' (1996), and its singles " 6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". The band takes its name from an article ...

. Later in the year, the band continued to work with Tim Bran of

Dreadzone Dreadzone are a British electronic music group. They have released eight studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations. Career Dreadzone were formed in London, England in 1993 when ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts teamed up ...

and

Roy Kerr Roy Patrick Kerr (; born 16 May 1934) is a New Zealand mathematician who discovered the Kerr geometry, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. His solution models the gravitational field outside an uncharged ...

, and by the end of the year, most of the recording had been completed. On 12 November 2012, the trio posted their song " Hey Now" on YouTube; it immediately received a huge 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 No. 31 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The band was also featured on

Disclosure Disclosure may refer to: Arts and media * ''Disclosure'' (The Gathering album), 2012 *Disclosure (band), a UK-based garage/electronic duo * ''Disclosure'' (novel), 1994 novel written by Michael Crichton ** ''Disclosure'' (1994 film), an American ...

's album ''

Settle Settle or SETTLE may refer to: Places * Settle, Kentucky, United States * Settle, North Yorkshire, a town in England ** Settle Rural District, a historical administrative district Music * Settle (band), an indie rock band from Pennsylvania * ''S ...

'' 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 10 summer 2013 European music festivals. In September 2013, Reid was the subject of a ''

Radio 1 Breakfast Show ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James since 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter. The show ran six days a week until February 1968 (seBBC Genome Project, then fi ...

'' Twitter post, which was criticised for being 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 No. 16 on the

. The song was later used in the 2014 American TV series ''Reckless'' for its second episode, "Parting Shots". On 9 September 2013, they released their debut studio album, ''

'', which peaked at No. 2 on both the

and

Australian Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, as well as at No. 11 on the

French Albums Chart French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

, No. 13 on the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

and No. 22 on the

New Zealand Albums Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. The band is signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in the United States. On 8 December 2013, a single for the album, " Nightcall" was released. Their cover was used again in ''Reckless'' in its last episode, "Civil Wars Part 2". 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 The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

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 The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

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). After the 2016 acquisition of Ministry of Sound Recordings by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

, London Grammar's catalogue remained to be distributed by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in most of the world and

Because Music Because Music is an independent record label with headquarters in Paris and London. Because Music SAS is the main label, with Because Music Ltd handling the British artist roster. Because Music was founded in 2005 by former president of Virgin ...

in France.

2017–2019: ''Truth Is a Beautiful Thing''

On 1 January 2017, London Grammar shared the single " Rooting for You", marking the group's first new music since their debut album in 2013. A month later, on 1 February, they shared the second single, "Big Picture", via their Facebook page, which they also performed on ''Later with Jools Holland''. ''

'' was released on 9 June 2017. The album was largely recorded with producers

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...

and

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

. It charted at No. 1 in the UK. During the autumn of 2017, the band's cover version of the

Chris Isaak Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song "Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...

song "

Wicked Game "Wicked Game" is a song by American rock musician Chris Isaak, released from his third album, '' Heart Shaped World'' (1989). Despite being released as a single in July 1989, it did not become a hit until it was featured in the 1990 David Lync ...

" was used in the trailer for the BBC series ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, rack ...

''. In March 2018, the band's song “Hell to the Liars” from album ''Truth Is a Beautiful Thing'' was featured on Season 4 of the E! show ''The Royals'' in the second episode, “Confess Yourself to Heaven”. In June 2019, London Grammar was featured on "Let You Know", a song by Australian musician

Flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

2020–present: ''Californian Soil''

On 19 August 2020, London Grammar released "

Baby It's You "Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams), and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by the Shirelles and the Beatles, and was a hit for both. The highest-charting version of "Baby I ...

", their first single since 2017. This was followed by the premiere of "Californian Soil" on 1 October before the launch of their third album, also titled ''

'', which was released on 16 April 2021. "America" was one of the first songs written for the album, and was written about letting go of the past. The launch of "Californian Soil" was accompanied by a full live performance on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. London Grammar were nominated for the "Best Group" at the Brit Awards 2022.

Musical style

London Grammar's music has been described as "a blend of ambient, ethereal and classical sounds" with melancholy guitar, soaring vocals, plaintive lyrics, and often displaying trip-hop and dance influences. Hannah Reid's powerful, haunting vocals – prominent on all of London Grammar's tracks released to date – are often compared to those of

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit " Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

and

Florence Welch Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986) is an English singer, the lead vocalist and primary songwriter of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine. The band's debut studio album, ''Lungs'' (2009), topped the UK Albums Chart and wo ...

.{{cite web, url=http://www.digitalspy.com.au/music/interviews/a490832/london-grammar-weve-gone-as-pop-as-we-can-interview.html, title=London Grammar: 'We've gone as pop as we can', work=Digital Spy 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."{{cite web, url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/leisure/music/10410720.The_Great_Escape__London_Grammar/, author=Dominic Smith, title=The Great Escape: London Grammar, work=The Argus, date=16 May 2013 She describes the songs as "emotionally affected" and said that she "writes about people who come in and out of my life."{{cite magazine , last=Selby , first=Jenn , url=http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/london-grammar-interview-debut-album-details-music , title=If You Wait: London Grammar discuss their striking debut album , magazine= Glamour , location=UK , date=9 September 2013 , access-date=26 June 2017

Discography

{{Main, London Grammar discography Studio albums * ''

'' (2013) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result !! Ref. , - , rowspan=2, 2013 , rowspan=6,

UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music. The awards began in 2008. There is a wide range of opportunities for UK individuals and companies to ...

, rowspan=2, " Wasting My Young Years" , Best Visual Effects in a Video , {{nom , rowspan=2, , - , rowspan=2, Best Alternative Video - UK , {{won , - , rowspan=12, 2014 , rowspan=2, " Nightcall" , {{nom , rowspan=4, , - , Best Cinematography in a Video , {{nom , - , ''

'' , Best Music Ad – TV or Online , {{nom , - , rowspan=3, Themselves , Best Video Artist , {{nom , - ,

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, British Breakthrough Act , {{nom , , - ,

Q Awards The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...

, Best New Act , {{nom , , - ,

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, rowspan=2, " Strong" , Best Song Musically & Lyrically , {{won , , - , rowspan=5,

AIM Independent Music Awards The AIM Independent Music Awards, hosted by the Association of Independent Music (commonly abbreviated to AIM), began in 2011. It is established through a collection of independent record labels and providing service and support to independent and s ...

, Independent Track of the Year , {{nom , rowspan=3, , - , ''

'' , Independent Album of the Year , {{nom , - , rowspan=3, Themselves , Best Live Act , {{nom , - , Independent Breakthrough of the Year , {{won , rowspan=2, , - , Most Played New Independent Act , {{won , - , rowspan=2, 2015 ,

International Dance Music Awards The International Dance Music Awards or IDMAs is an annual awards ceremony held in Miami Beach, Florida, United States as a major part of the Winter Music Conference. The awards have been held every year since the conference's creation in 1985 e ...

, " Hey Now" ( Sasha Remix) , Best House/Garage/Deep House Track , {{nom , , - , The Music Producers Guild Awards , ''

'' , UK Album of the Year , {{nom , {{Cite web, url=https://mpg.org.uk/mpg-awards/2015-short-lists/, title=2015 Short Lists, date=4 November 2014, website=The Music Producers Guild, access-date=7 April 2020 , - , 2017 ,

, " Rooting for You" , Best Live Session , {{nom , , - , 2018 ,

, Themselves , Best British Group , {{nom , {{end

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.londongrammar.com/ * {{MusicBrainz artist {{London Grammar {{Ivor Novello Best Song {{Authority control 2012 establishments in England Alumni of British Youth Music Theatre Because Music artists British indie pop groups British musical trios Columbia Records artists Dew Process artists Dream pop musical groups English art rock groups English electronic music groups Ministry of Sound artists Musical groups from Nottingham Trip hop groups