Photo: Press
Hurts have cited Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and Motown as influences on their forthcoming new album, saying, "We decided to see how things would turn out if we enjoyed ourselves."
The duo's first two albums - Happiness and Exile - were recorded in Manchester. For their third, Surrender, they split their time between Ibiza, LA, New York and the Swiss Alps - the effect of which they say made their music notably lighter.
"It was quite a dark time making the last record," Theo Hutchcraft told NME, "and the content was quite reflective of our state, but once we'd finished it and exorcised the demons our mood shifted quite a lot."
The band launched Surrender with an intimate show at London's Scala this week - read our review here.
Listen to Hurts 'Some Kind Of Heaven' below
He continued, "This time we decided to see how things would turn out if we enjoyed ourselves and went to some exciting places. It made us look outwards for the first time in a long time. The second record was very internal and very intense so we craved the opposite. Now, at this stage in our lives, to make a record that would sound as dark as the second or as melancholy as the first wouldn't be a true reflection of us. That's not to say it's all a barrel of laughs though; we're still drawn to the darker side."
He also revealed that the album was influenced by Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and "the backing singers and gospel choirs" of Motown, saying that the LP will "delight and surprise people in equal measure."
Surrender is due for release later this year. See the full tracklisting below.
'Surrender'
'Some Kind of Heaven'
'Why'
'Nothing Will Be Bigger Than Us'
'Rolling Stone'
'Lights'
'Slow'
'Kaleidoscope'
'Wings'
'Wish'
