Hurts have announced shows in London and Berlin, celebrating the 15th anniversary of debut album ‘Happiness’.
- READ MORE: Hurts tell us about dark new single ‘Voices’: “We’ve gone back to the essence of who we are”
The alt-pop duo, formed by Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson, will be heading to the O2 Academy in Brixton first, for a show on May 22, before playing a show at Berlin’s Tempodrom two nights later (24).
Both new dates come in celebration of the upcoming 15th anniversary of their breakthrough album ‘Happiness’, which was released in 2009 and launched the band to the top of the charts across Europe.
“The year 2025 marks the 15th anniversary of our debut album ‘Happiness’. It’s hard to believe these songs are 15 years old. The period of writing and releasing the record feels like a strange dream. Close but impossibly out of reach,” the band wrote on Instagram, announcing news of the two shows.
“It was a kind of immaculate conception. 12 songs written pretty much in order, one after another. Like they were desperate to get out of us. Each of those songs has lived a million lifetimes since then. They’ve travelled to every corner of the world, and taken us along for the ride,” they added. “To celebrate, we’re excited to announce two exclusive shows where ‘Happiness’ will be performed in its entirety, alongside a selection of our other favourites from the last 15 years.
“We can’t wait to be with you all again and see what happiness has become. These will be nights to treasure. Thank you for everything you’ve given us for the last 15 years.”
Tickets for the London and Berlin shows will go on sale next Friday (October 25) at 10am local time. Pre-sale options commence on Wednesday (23) and will be available to those who sign up to Hurts’ mailing list. Visit here for tickets.
Hurts’ ‘Happiness’ 15th anniversary shows are:
MAY
22 – London, O2 Academy Brixton
24 – Berlin, Tempodrom
As well as topping the charts, ‘Happiness’ also achieved the title of the fastest-selling debut band of 2010 in the UK, reaching the Number One position across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland and more. At the time, NME gave it a rating of eight out of 10, and described the songs as being “fearsomely well-crafted” and “as clean-lined and immaculate as a well-cut suitwrote”. It also praised the album itself as being “billowing, escapist nonsense that raises your heart rate, slaps a smile on your face and sounds godlike when drunk”.
With hit singles including ‘Better Than Love’, ‘Wonderful Life’ and ‘Stay’, the record has since sold over 2million copies globally and has become 16-times platinum. It has also seen Hutchcraft and Anderson win two NME Awards. In 2011, they took home the win at the ceremony for the Best New Band award, and in 2012 they were up for both Best Track and Best Video for ‘Sunday’ – taking home the trophy for the latter category.
Since the album’s release in 2009, Hurts have shared four more albums: ‘Exile’, ‘Surrender’, ‘Desire’ and ‘Faith’. They have also collaborated with other top artists, including Calvin Harris for their chart-topping single ‘Under Control’, and for their rework of ‘Wonderful Life’ featuring Luciano.
‘Faith’ arrived in 2020 and included the singles ‘Somebody’, ‘Voices’, ‘Suffer’ and ‘Redemption’. In a three-star review, NME wrote: “It hasn’t completely reinvented the wheel for Hurts, nor has it allowed them to rest on old habits. Instead, it presents them at their most open – and in age of isolation, there’s much to admire in that.”
Following the release of the album’s lead single ‘Voices’, Hutchcraft spoke to NME about sharing music amid the pandemic. “It’s an odd time to release it, but it feels good because there’s a message in the song that is hopeful,” he said, “It’s about having the power to change and deal with those things. Hopefully people can find that in it.”
Since the release of ‘Faith’, Hutchcraft has worked with various artists as a songwriter. In 2022, he paid tribute to Louis Tomlinson after the former One Direction member’s new album ‘Faith In The Future’ hit Number One in the UK Album Charts.
Hutchcraft co-wrote three of the tracks on Tomlinson’s second album, including the single ‘Silver Tongues’. He took to Instagram to shout out Tomlinson, describing the experience of working with him as a “total joy”.
The songwriter also helmed Calvin Harris and Tom Grennan‘s 2021 hit ‘By Your Side’ and ‘Save Disco’ by PNAU. This year, he co-wrote the title track on Courteeners‘ upcoming seventh album ‘Pink Cactus Cafe‘, having previously co-wrote and lent backing vocals to their 2017 single ‘Modern Love‘.
Since then, they have played a string of European festivals throughout 2023, and teased their comeback earlier this month.
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