It’s been just over two years since Hurts released their last record, Exile, their second to go top ten in the UK, and another chapter in the millions of records they have now sold worldwide. That momentary silence was broken in June with “Some Kind of Heaven”, the first single from this new album.
Surrender signals a surprising new direction for Hurts. Over the course of their three albums, the duo have put in serious groundwork to keep the artistic boundaries of Hurts broad, so that anything is always possible. “It means we’ve always had a certain freedom. So, we threw out the blueprint for Surrender. There was no archetype for a Hurts song anymore.”
The writing began in the mild climes of Montreux, in the same famous mountain studios that once homed David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Iggy Pop, looking out across Lake Geneva. Soon, they were visiting Ibiza, LA, and New York to record, working with their favoured Jonas Quant on production, but also new faces, in the shape of the legendary Stuart Price (Madonna, The Killers) and the in demand Ariel Rechstaid (Haim, Vampire Weekend). Theo describes: “These new faces and places… They helped bring the idea of Surrender together. These were cities with big blue skies. It wasn’t Manchester in the rain. We enjoyed ourselves. And the music came as it was.”
philmarriott.net hooked up with Theo from Hurts to chat about the band’s forthcoming album release, the band’s reluctance to share a joint band Twitter profile, the need to be dramatic and theatrical, and what it felt like being manhandled by Helena Bonham Carter.
This interview was originally broadcast on Gaydio – the world’s biggest LGBT dance and pop radio station – on Sunday 4th October 2015.
Surrender is released on 9th October. Hurts begin their European tour in Glasgow on 11th February 2016.
