Hurts appear to be teasing a comeback. Find out more below.
- READ MORE: Hurts tell us about dark new single ‘Voices’: “We’ve gone back to the essence of who we are”
The Manchester synth-pop duo – comprised of Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson – haven’t released an album since 2020’s ‘Faith’, though they played a string of European festivals in 2023.
Now, it seems they may be gearing up for a return. A cryptic teaser video appeared today (October 14) on the band’s official Facebook page, as well as on Hutchcraft’s and Anderson’s own Instagram accounts.
The short clip shows a glitchy screen that then reveals text saying “A5M4”.
In the comments of the Facebook post, the band have linked to a song on Spotify by an artist called A5M4. The 47-second, spoken-word poetry track is titled ‘The Truth Hurts’ and appears to be from 2010 – it’s the only track on the platform attributed to A5M4.
Check out the track and the posts below.
Hurts formed in Manchester in 2009 and released their debut album ‘Happiness’ the following year. In 2011 they won Best New Band at the NME awards, beating off competition from Beady Eye, Everything Everything, The Drums and Two Door Cinema Club, who were also nominated in the category.
Since then they’ve shared four more LPs: 2013’s ‘Exile‘, ‘Surrender’ in 2017 and ‘Faith’, their most recent album that included the singles ‘Somebody’, ‘Voices’, ‘Suffer’ and ‘Redemption’, in 2020.
In a three-star review, NME wrote: “‘Faith’ has much to offer for fans seeking comfort in the idiosyncrasies of Hurts’ grand noir-pop, and also ushers in new musical kinks and tricks.
Hurts, 2020. Credit: Press
“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‘.
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