A heritage band in the making, HURTS have succeeded in doing what few British bands have managed since the Beatles. In regularly playing to crowds of over 10,000 at national stadia across Russia, the Baltics, and more, the cross-Pennine duo can well and truly claim to have conquered the Eastern European market.

 

Now on their fourth studio album, and embarking on their biggest ever arena tour, Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson are firmly en route to becoming part of the music industry elite.

 

HURTS‘ latest music videos –  for ‘Beautiful Ones’ and ‘Ready To Go’ –  don’t shy away from poignant matters in today’s society. From freely expressing male emotions to using their platform to highlight contemporary issues facing transgendered people, HURTS have rightfully earned their spot as one of the most relevant musical acts in 21st century’s every changing pop climate.

 

Let’s talk progression. Sound-wise, your albums are nearly polar opposites. What’s your take on the way that your music has progressed?

TH: It’s strange for us ’cause we just make pop music.  For the second album, we had a plan, we wanted to make an album that sounded a certain way. But with Surrender and this one, we just set out to write a bunch of the best pop songs you could write. In some way, we’ve developed because we don’t want to repeat ourselves. I think it’s mad that we’ve made it to 4 albums.

If you take Desire back to back with Happiness – the first is elusive whereas the latter is vivid. How do you access those vulnerable spots and then channel them?

AA: I think it’s always a progression, every inch of our albums. We were at different stages, psychologically. Everything was always changing. But you never get the opportunity to write music as innocently as you do when you write your first record.

TH: We weren’t writing for a purpose, everything was just very honest. We were just writing songs about how we felt and we’ll never quite get that same perspective again. With this album, we just tried to have a more direct approach.

AA: The first album was soaked in an atmosphere underneath, which made the songs what they were. But it takes a lot of skill to try and strip things back. I feel like that’s a big progression that we’ve made.

 

With ‘Ready To Go’ – you touch upon a series of very poignant matters. It’s  an allegory between life and death, love, grief, and vulnerability. What led you into that particular direction?  

TH: The song is about living your life and being happy. It was quite interesting to tell a story about death but in a different way. There was something about male emotions that we thought was quite interesting. Men have a very difficult time dealing with their emotions and explain their emotions publicly. It was a story of someone having a difficult time, but in the video, it becomes a dance. It becomes something that the character can’t escape from.

It’s a nice message because it’s a big problem. It’s a really big problem for men all around the world. Society is built in a way that makes people not to have the confidence to express themselves.

 

 

You’ve received a lot of applause for the music video for ‘Beautiful Ones’. What has been the most intense reaction that you’ve received?   

TH: It was a big subject and a big thing to speak about. We believed in it, but it was hard to know how people would react to it. It was all-positive – people said that it has affected them. It had a purpose and its purpose was to make people realize that this stuff goes on. It’s not the kind of video that you see for a pop song. We’re in a position to put a message across and that’s not something that we take lightly.

 

On a lighter note – can you describe what your first experience on heels was like?

TH: It was hard. I had to make my dinner in them. It’s really hard, especially with ones that high! I had to walk around my house a lot and I had to learn how to run fast in them! But when I ran, I couldn’t stop, so the problem was that I was running full speed but people had to catch me because I was like ‘I can’t stop, I can’t stop.’ So there was someone who had to like catch me at the end. It was a fun process.

 

What’s your FAULT?

AA: Fuck me, I’ve got millions of them. Mine would be impatience. I want everything right now. Theo is better at seeing the bigger picture. I don’t have that perspective.

TH: From a personal perspective – mine would be that I’m very rarely satisfied with things. I strive for a perfection that doesn’t really exist. It’s not great on a personal level, but it’s positive on a professional level.

Words: Adina Ilie

Photography: Charl Marais

Fashion Editor: Kristine Kilty

Grooming: Enzo Volpe using Lab Series and Fudge Haircare

Fashion Assistants: Lily Davies and Hannah Sheridan

Photo Assistant: Lotti Brewer-Gmoser

Special thanks to Circus, London

 

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