To cap a year that saw them perform at over 20 festivals from Moscow to Austin and somehow slide in the release of their debut album, HONNE – Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher, a pair of one-time guitar teachers – is to play eight shows across their homeland, including a Hallowe’en’en Sunday night set at Brighton’s suitably-named The Haunt.
“The soul of the music is pure romance and sex,” we wrote in January when picking the pair one of ten acts to watch for the year ahead, and inaugural full-length Warm On A Cold Night certainly elucidated that with comfort. A sentimental glare into addled, nocturnal souls, its combination of soppy poetry and cosy instrumentation earned four stars from us, with our review describing it as “a flowing and cohesive set of soulful electronica gleaming with romance.”
Prior to that record’s release, steam gathered beneath the duo off the strength of a quintet of EPs and remix work for Rae Morris, Years & Years, and SG Lewis. Now, with the backing of Atlantic Records, their reach is extending into production for other artists, having recently joined the acclaimed company of A. K. Paul and Tourist in creating ‘Melt’ with JONES, who they previously duetted with on Over Lover‘s anguished ‘No Place Like Home,’ for her upcoming album New Skin. That sort of thing, though, will be on the backburners currently – with their futuristic sound brought to life by four touring musicians, they’ll only be free to step off the tour bus after a further European stint that culminates in Vienna in December.
