London Grammar

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London Grammar

London Grammar on 27 September 2013, at Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, California, USA.
Background information
Origin Nottingham, England, United Kingdom
Genres Electronica, trip-hop,[1] pop[2]
Years active 2012–present
Labels Metal & Dust Recordings, Ministry of Sound, Warner/Chappell,[3] Columbia Records[4]
Website LondonGrammar.com
Members
  • Dominic 'Dot' Major[5]
  • Hannah Reid
  • Dan Rothman

London Grammar are a British trip-hop trio formed by Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic 'Dot' Major.[6] Their début EP Metal & Dust was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust Recordings Ltd.[7] Their début album If You Wait was released on 9 September 2013.

History

2009–2012: Early career

Both vocalist Hannah Reid and guitarist Dan Rothman are originally from London[8] and 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. They were joined by Northampton native, Dominic 'Dot' Major (keyboard, djembe, drums) a year later, after he began playing music together with Rothman.[5] 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'.[8]

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.[9][10] The band began by playing low-key gigs at local bars, honing their material.[6][7] They soon found themselves noticed by a number of A&R men and they were signed with the Ministry of Sound while Big Life took over the management duties in the second half of 2012.[11] In the same year the trio did some early recordings with Cameron Blackwood, which was the start of a number of sessions for the debut album.[5] Blackwood was replaced by Tim Bran 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, partly due to the relative anonymity of the band due to a lack of promotional photographs.[12]

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. It created a lot of interest and the band received significant airplay on national radio.[11] 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.[13] 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 twitterfeed controversy, which was deemed to be sexist. The backlash forced the corporation to apologise while the trio 'decided to stay out of it'.[8]

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. The band are signed to Columbia Records in the USA.[4]

On 13 January 2014, the band performed "Strong" and "Wasting My Young Years" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,[14] marking their debut performance on American television.[15]

Musical style

London Grammar's music has been described as "a blend of ambient, ethereal and classical sounds"[16] 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.[17] 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'.[11] She describes as the songs as "emotionally affected" and "writes about people who come in and out of my life". The song "Wasting My Young Years", which has received over 4 million views on YouTube, was written about her ex-boyfriend.[18]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[19]		 AUS
[20]		 BEL (Vl)
[21]		 BEL (Wa)
[22]		 FRA
[23]		 GER
[24]		 IRE
[25]		 NZ
[26]		 SCO
[27]		 SWI
[28]
If You Wait 2 2 9 16 11 34 13 22 2 21

Extended plays

Title Album details Peak
chart
positions
AUS
[20]
Metal & Dust
  • Released: 25 February 2013
  • Label: Metal & Dust Recordings
  • Format: Digital download
 68

Singles

As lead artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[19]		 AUS
[20]		 BEL (Vl)
[21]		 BEL (Wa)
[22]		 DEN
[31]		 FRA
[23]		 GER
[24]		 IRE
[25]		 NZ
[26]		 SCO
[32]		 SWI
[28]
2013 "Metal & Dust" 105 — — — — — — — — — — If You Wait
"Wasting My Young Years" 31 98 — 90 — 32 — — — 34 54
"Strong" 16 4 4 16 — 181 33 34 13 16 59
"Nightcall" 53 — — — 8 183 — — — — —
2014 "Hey Now" — — — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released.

As featured artist

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[19]
2013 "Help Me Lose My Mind"
(Disclosure featuring London Grammar)		 56 Settle

Other charted songs

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[33]
2013 "Interlude" 187 If You Wait

References

  1. ↑ Paul Lester. "New band of the day: London Grammar (No 1,497) | Music". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08. 
  2. ↑ Fenwick, Tom. "London Grammar - If You Wait / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2013-09-08. 
  3. ↑ Hart, Tina (28 June 2013). "Warner/Chappell sign London Grammar". Music Week. Retrieved 3 July 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Columbia Records press release" 'London Grammar to release debut album If You Wait September 10', sony.com, 5 August 2013
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Marcus Rimondini, 'Interview: London Grammar', The Ripe 9 September 2013
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 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. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 James Lachno (13 June 2013). "London Grammar – New Faces". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2013. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Evening Standard interview 2013" David Smyth, 'London Grammar singer Hannah Reid on sexism in the music industry', London Evening Standard, 22 November 2013. Reid is from the Acton area and Rothman from Hendon
  9. ↑ "Dan Rothman Linkedin entry" Notes that he graduated in 2011 with a BA in Economics and Philisophy
  10. ↑ "Conor Wheeler Linkedin entry" Details his period as a manager for the band from December 2011 to June 2012
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Dominic Smith, 'The Great Escape: London Grammar', The Argus, 16th May 2013
  12. ↑ Huw Oliver, 'London Grammar: Space is the answer' DIY Magazine, 4 September 2013
  13. ↑ 2013-06-15 Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive | Official Charts
  14. ↑ "Watch London Grammar Play Fallon - Stereogum". Stereogum. Retrieved 20 January 2014. 
  15. ↑ "Which Member Of London Grammar Cried When She Found Out Elvis Was Dead? - Music, Celebrity, Artist News - MTV.com". MTV. Retrieved 20 January 2014. 
  16. ↑ London Grammar: 'We've been given time to develop naturally' | Gigwise
  17. ↑ London Grammar: 'We've gone as pop as we can' - interview - Music Interview - Digital Spy
  18. ↑ London Grammar Interview Debut Album Details – Metal & Dust (Glamour.com UK)
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Peak positions in the United Kingdom:
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Hung, Steffen. "Discography London Grammar". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discografie London Grammar". Belgium (Flanders) Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discographie London Grammar". Belgium (Wallonia) Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discographie London Grammar". French Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discographie London Grammar". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Peak positions in Ireland:
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discography London Grammar". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  27. ↑ Peak positions for albums in Scotland:
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Hung, Steffen. "Discographie London Grammar". Swiss Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  29. ↑ "United Kingdom Certified Awards – Haim". "British Phonographic Industry". bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.  (To access, enter the search term "London Grammar".).
  30. ↑ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/chart/albums
  31. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Discography London Grammar". Danish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). 
  32. ↑ Peak positions for singles in Scotland:
  33. ↑ Peak positions for Other charted songs in the UK:

External links

London Grammar
  • Dot Major
  • Hannah Reid
  • Dan Rothman
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
Other songs
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