History
History
2005–2008: Beginnings
Hurts performing in January 2010
Anderson (born 14 May 1985 in Manchester) and Hutchcraft (born 30 August 1986 in Richmond, North Yorkshire) met outside Manchester's 42nd Street nightclub in November 2005, standing by while their friends got involved in a fight. Too drunk to join in, they began discussing music instead; realising they had similar tastes, they decided to start a band. Over the next few months, they exchanged music and lyrics via e-mail, before forming Bureau in March 2006. They performed their first gig as a quintet in May at The Music Box in Manchester, and were shortly afterwards signed to independent record label High Voltage Sounds. They released their first double A-side single "After Midnight"/"Dollhouse" in November, which was made Single of the Week on Xfm. In 2007, Bureau disbanded and Hutchcraft and Anderson formed the band Daggers soon after. They signed to Label Fandango and in October released another double A-side single, "Money"/"Magazine", which, despite failing to chart, was nominated for the Popjustice £20 Music Prize.
Throughout 2008, Daggers continued to build a following and began working with producers Biff Stannard and Richard X, but after a disastrous A&R showcase in London in September, Theo and Adam returned to Manchester to reflect on the band's future. They recorded a mournful ballad called "Unspoken" together and they immediately realised that this was the sound that they wanted to develop as a duo. After informing the rest of the band that it was finished, they went on a short break to Verona in Italy, where they claim they discovered a musical genre called "Disco Lento". Daggers split on 30 January 2009.
2009–2012: Happiness
Now called Hurts, the duo recorded an amateur music video for a song called "Wonderful Life", with a female dancer who had responded to an advert they placed in a post office in Manchester. After they uploaded the video to their YouTube channel on 21 April 2009, it quickly went viral and has since had over 38 million views. In July, the band was signed to Sony subsidiary RCA Records as well as RCA imprint Major Label Records, run by their old friend Biff Stannard.
Although Hutchcraft and Anderson had decided to not do any gigs until they had enough songs, they began uploading demos to their Myspace page, and on 27 July 2009, they were named Band of the Day by The Guardian. On 7 December, they made the longlist of the Sound of 2010, an annual poll of music critics and industry figures conducted by the BBC. Following spot plays on BBC Radio 1 of "Wonderful Life", Hurts were invited to record at London's Maida Vale Studios on 9 December for Huw Stephens' radio show, where they performed "Illuminated" and "Silver Lining".
Hurts performing in October 2010
2010 began with Hurts finishing fourth on the Sound of 2010 poll, behind Ellie Goulding, Marina and the Diamonds, and Delphic. On 7 January, Zane Lowe premiered the song "Blood, Tears & Gold" as his "Hottest Record in the World", and another self-made music video debuted online three days later. Having released a limited edition 12" vinyl picture disc of the Arthur Baker remix of "Wonderful Life" on 18 January, Hurts performed their first ever gig as Hurts on 22 January at the Michalsky Stylenite in Berlin, followed by St Phillips Church in Salford on 22 February. This was quickly followed by gigs at Wiltons Music Hall, London, and in Berlin and Cologne in Germany.
In March, "Wonderful Life" was released to radio in various European territories; as manager Matt Vines explained to Music Week, the aim was to launch the band simultaneously across Europe and Asia. "It's an internationally focused campaign. We're looking at tours across Europe to back up the work we are doing in the UK." The single became a radio hit in countries such as Denmark, Cyprus and Russia throughout the spring. On 10 March, their first UK single "Better Than Love" was premiered on Huw Stephens' show on BBC Radio 1. After a nationwide tour with the NME Radar tour, the song was released on digital download, CD and vinyl formats on 24 May, and debuted at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart.
Following success on Greek radio, Hurts were invited to perform at the MAD Video Music Awards ceremony in Athens in front of 11,000 people on 15 June. Also in June, Kylie Minogue recorded a verse and backing vocals for the song "Devotion", which was to be included on the band's album. Hurts recorded a performance of Kylie's 1994 hit "Confide in Me" for newspaper The Sun's website, and has since been a regular inclusion on their gig setlists. Kylie later returned the compliment by recording a performance of "Wonderful Life" in Radio 1's Live Lounge.
Throughout the summer, Hurts performed at several music festivals including V Festival and T in the Park in the UK, Pukkelpop in Belgium, and SWR3 New Pop Festival in Germany. "Wonderful Life" was released in Germany on 6 August and it debuted at number two on the German Singles Chart. It was released in the UK on 23 August, where it debuted at number 21, becoming their first UK top 40 hit. The album Happiness, which had been recorded at Sunshine Dance Studios in Manchester and Pellerin in Gothenburg with producer Jonas Quant, was released on 6 September. It debuted at number four in the UK Albums Chart, selling 25,000 copies in its first week on sale, which made it the fastest selling debut album by a band in 2010.
In October, Hurts embarked on their first full headline UK tour, performing in Brighton, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and London. Their third UK single "Stay" was released in November, reaching number 50 in the chart. Meanwhile, in Germany, "Wonderful Life" was certified platinum for sales in excess of 500,000 copies, and they were awarded the BAMBI award for Best International Newcomer. They were also nominated at the MTV Europe Music Awards in the Best Push Artist category. Hurts ended 2010 by supporting Scissor Sisters on their UK arena tour in December, and released a Christmas single called "All I Want for Christmas Is New Year's Day" for free download on iTunes.
Happiness climbed back into the UK Top 30 albums chart in February 2011 following a second nationwide headline tour, several TV appearances including on The Graham Norton Show, and winning Best New Band at the NME Awards on 23 February, where they also performed "Wonderful Life". A fourth single from the album, "Sunday", was released in the UK on 27 February and it debuted at number 57, whilst the second single in Germany, "Stay", reached number three. In March, Hurts were awarded Best International Newcomer at the ECHO Awards in Germany. A fifth single, "Illuminated", was released in the UK on 9 May, entering the chart at number 159, though it had already reached number 68 in September 2010, following its use on trailers for television channel Sky1.
On 26 June, Theo and Adam performed on the John Peel stage at the Glastonbury Festival, and their full set was broadcast on a loop on the BBC Red Button channel. Readers of music magazine NME voted their performance as the best of the festival, putting them ahead of headliners U2, Coldplay, and Beyoncé. They were later voted "Band of the Summer" by the same magazine. In June 2011 they announced a remix of the track "Lonely Lisa" by French singer Mylène Farmer.
"Blood, Tears & Gold" was released as the third single in Germany on 7 October, peaking at number 39. A deluxe CD/DVD edition of Happiness was released on 31 October. The album eventually sold 400,000 copies in Germany, earning it double platinum status. It sold 150,000 copies in the United Kingdom, and spent a year on the UK Top 200 albums chart.
Hurts embarked on their first full European tour in October 2011, performing in Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, North Macedonia, and the UK. They said in interviews that they planned to start writing and recording for their second album after they have completed the tour, but that they might find it more difficult than their first. On 4 November 2011, Hurts played their last show of their 'Happiness Tour' at Brixton Academy where Kylie Minogue joined them on stage to perform "Devotion" and "Confide in Me". Hurts have confirmed more festival shows for summer 2012. In 2012, Hurts played the Summerwell Festival, Romania (11 August), Open Air Zofingen, Switzerland (12 August) and the Pildyk Friends Festival, Lithuania (14 August).
2012–2015: Exile
Hurts performing in July 2014
In September 2012, Hurts confirmed that recording of their next album was underway, with producer Jonas Quant. Their second studio album, Exile, was available on 11 March 2013. A video-teaser on iTunes contained a new track from Exile called "The Road", which was released on 14 December 2012 on YouTube. In autumn 2013 the video got a nomination for UK Music Video Awards as the Best Music Ad – TV or Online. An audio-only video of "The Road" was also uploaded.
The lead single from the album, "Miracle", premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 4 January 2013. A music video directed by Chris Turner was uploaded to YouTube on 4 February, but was permanently removed shortly after. A second video was shot and appeared online on 28 February. The single reached number 23 in Germany and number 120 in the UK.
Exile was released on 8 March 2013, achieving a top ten position in ten countries worldwide, debuting at number three in Germany and number nine in the UK. "Blind" was released as the second single on 20 May, and "Somebody to Die For" followed as the third on 21 July. With the release of "Somebody to Die for" they included a cover version of "Ohne Dich" from the German band Selig. The band continued their Exile Tour across Europe in October and November 2013 and March 2014.
2015 – 2017: Surrender
In May 2015, Hurts released a new single titled "Some Kind of Heaven". The release was produced with long-term collaborator Jonas Quant.On 6 October 2015, Hurts released the music video for "Wish", directed by Bryan Adams. Surrender was released on 9 October 2015. At the end of the tour for the album, Hurts released a video for the song "Nothing Will be Bigger Than Us". The video consisted of live concert footage of the Surrender tour in Moscow and London.
2017–2018: Desire
"Beautiful Ones", the first single from Desire, was released on 21 April 2017, the one-year anniversary of the death of American musician Prince, whom Hurts have cited as an inspiration. The song is assumed to be inspired by the Prince song "The Beautiful Ones", from his 1984 breakthrough album Purple Rain. The video for the song was shot in Kiev and was also released on 21 April 2017. In the video, which plays out in reverse, Hutchcraft portrays a drag queen who is chased and beaten by a group of men after one of them mistakes him for a woman in a nightclub and subsequently feels that his masculinity has been insulted. On 1 September, the band released another single, "Ready to Go". The video was filmed in Horwich, Greater Manchester. On 22 September, a single titled "Hold On to Me" was released.
Desire was released on 29 September 2017. During the tour for the album, Hurts liked the welcome they received from fans in Russia so much that they extended the tour to include a return to Russia at the end of it. The second part of the tour also saw the duo perform in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China. The final concert took place in Bucharest on 22 September 2018.
2020–present: Faith
In May 2020, Hurts blacked out their pictures on their social media profiles and posted links to a Telegram profile, on which they released puzzles leading to the release of a lyric video for "Voices", the first single from their upcoming fifth album. With lyrics inspired by "isolation, desperation, and mania", Hutchcraft said that "Voices" had become "oddly prescient" during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 24 June, they revealed that the upcoming album would be titled Faith and released its second single, "Suffer". On 16 July, they released a third single called "Redemption" and announced that the album was released on 4 September.
Slave to Your Love
Hurts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But talking ain't no good
You say that all you need is time
But talking ain't no good
There's a look in your eyes
That you words can't describe, it's so cruel
But the more that you hurt me
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
You say you want to work it out
But I don't want to try
I'm begging you to let me drown
And stop the air supply
There's an aching inside me
And I can't decide what to do
'Cause the more that you hurt me
The harder I fall into you, into you
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I don't want to talk about it
I don't want to beg you for your love
I just want to touch your body
Get locked in a prison of your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
These lyrics depict a complex and tumultuous relationship where the singer is deeply entangled in their love for someone who consistently hurts them. The first verse suggests that the other person claims to want to find a compromise, but their words hold no weight. Simply talking about the issues is not enough, and the singer realizes that time alone will not fix the problems in the relationship.
The chorus reveals the singer's predicament - they admit to being enslaved by their love for this person. Despite the cruelty and pain inflicted upon them, they find it impossible to break free from their emotions. There is an indescribable look in the other person's eyes that captures the essence of their cruelty and allure, pulling the singer deeper into their destructive love.
The second verse delves into the singer's frustration and resignation. Although the other person claims they want to work things out, the singer no longer wants to make an effort. They feel suffocated and desire to be freed from the relationship, even if it means drowning and cutting off their air supply. The internal struggle the singer faces is highlighted by an aching that they cannot ignore. Despite the hurt, they continue to fall deeper into their love for the person.
The bridge reveals the desperation the singer feels. They no longer want to discuss the issues or beg for the person's love. Instead, they just want to physically connect with the person, willing to be imprisoned in a love that keeps them captive. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the singer's surrender and acceptance of their status as a slave to this destructive love, reinforcing the intensity of their emotions and the inability to escape.
Line by Line Meaning
You say you want to compromise
You claim that you're willing to find a middle ground
But talking ain't no good
But mere words are not enough
You say that all you need is time
You assert that time is all you require
But talking ain't no good
But mere words are not enough
There's a look in your eyes
I can see a certain expression in your eyes
That your words can't describe, it's so cruel
That is beyond the ability of your words to convey, and it's incredibly harsh
But the more that you hurt me
However, the more you cause me pain
The harder I fall into you
The deeper I become entangled in your grasp
I, I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
You say you want to work it out
You claim that you want to resolve our issues
But I don't want to try
But I have no desire to make an effort
I'm begging you to let me drown
I am pleading with you to allow me to suffocate
And stop the air supply
And cut off my source of oxygen
There's an aching inside me
I feel a deep, painful longing within
And I can't decide what to do
And I am unable to determine the course of action
'Cause the more that you hurt me
Because as you continue to inflict pain upon me
The harder I fall into you, into you
The more deeply I surrender myself to you, to you
I don't want to talk about it
I have no interest in discussing the matter
I don't want to beg you for your love
I refuse to plead for your affection
I just want to touch your body
I simply desire physical contact with you
Get locked in a prison of your love
To be trapped within the confines of your love
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
I'm a slave to your love
I am completely subservient to your affection
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Adam Anderson, Chenai Zinyuku, Theo Hutchcraft
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tomer Yadovner
Lyrics
You say you want to compromise
But talking ain't no good
You say that all you need is time
But talking ain't no good
There's a look in your eyes
That you words can't describe, it's so cruel
But the more that you hurt me
The harder I fall into you
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
You say you want to work it out
But I don't want to try
I'm begging you to let me drown
And stop the air supply
There's an aching inside me
And I can't decide what to do
'Cause the more that you hurt me
The harder I fall into you, into you
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I don't want to talk about it
I don't want to beg you for your love
I just want to touch your body
Get locked in a prison of your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I, I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
I'm a slave to your love
Hayden Dias
This band deserves so much more recognition
Frandeae cuello
yes, you have reason
DK Albryte
@Sally Harvey 😳 wow..i just discovered them several years ago and never checked Wikipedia to see where they hailed from but since I love Brit music never having heard of them I just assumed Germany lol..They deserve more international play. Manchester United! Ha
Sally Harvey
@DK Albryte I know i dont understand why they are not popular in my country in UK as they from manchester! Id never heard of them not until 2010 when they played at Glastonbury Festival here in the Uk, but they only did 3 tour dates in the UK, very disappointed
DK Albryte
@Дмитрий Кулагин 👍
Дмитрий Кулагин
Absulutely!!! I'm in nirvana...
Ruslan Z.
Hurts = магия! Боже, храни этих ребят. Гениально. Thanks a lot, guys.
Василиса Прекрасная
Как же я мечтаю попать на концерт HURTS 🙊
Enrique Serruto Diaz
Я, 30 летний большой бородатый мужчина. Слушаю и плачу. Припев меня раздирает. Даже не из-за лирики, а из мелодии и вокала Тео.
Natalia Tryfonova
36, и тоже в шоке от них. жаль, что их не все слушают.