Right Then And There (live At Bush Hall)

Hammerite

Despite growing up together, Luke and Charlotte started making music in very different ways. Luke taught himself guitar at home in South London. Charlotte remembers first the banging on the wall, then the applause from the neighbours. He began performing as the lead singer of the Rock band Sevenball, playing to packed, sweaty crowds in hundreds of underground venues. Charlotte, on the other hand, began her music career as a white-dress-wearing choirgirl in the classical girl-group All Angels. The group was formed by Universal Records, played to reverent crowds in festival halls, churches and cathedrals, and sold half a million albums.

    In 2011 Charlotte joined the cast of multi-award winning comedy Fresh Meat playing the insecure wannabe, Oregon. The show, created by Peep Show writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, is currently in its third series on Channel Four. In the same year Luke began to record his debut solo album, The Water’s Edge via Proper Records. His initial demos had drawn the attention of globally acclaimed composer Nico Muhly (Bjork, Antony & The Johnsons, Grizzly Bear) and award-winning Producer Paul Savage (Franz Ferdinand, Arab Strap, Mogwai). The former composed and recorded string parts for five of the tracks on; the latter produced the entire album over two snowy weeks in Scotland.

    It wasn’t until Charlotte joined Luke onstage at his album launch at Bush Hall in 2012 to add harmonies that the two sang together for the first time. A live recording of one of the tracks Right then and there was then chosen as the closing track in an episode of Fresh Meat. Spurred on by so many positive reactions to the track, and finding an unexpected ease in working with family, Luke and Charlotte began to work on new material.

    The duo went on tour at the end of 2012, honing close harmonies and learning to cope with spending long periods of time together. For the most part they succeeded, despite both of them losing their wallets on the same day. And Charlotte crashing Luke's car. It was at a gig at The Islington, London, where they met producer Richard Cardwell (Annie Lennox, James Morrison) who invited the duo to his studio and began their first recordings together.

    Hammerite is the first of their singles to be released. The video was conceived by the duo in collaboration with its director Will Reid, an emerging talent who has recently worked with such artists as Daley, Maiday and Arrows Down. Luke is currently writing new material, and Charlotte is filming Siblings, a series for BBC 3 (nothing to do with a musical duo, unfortunately). Between these projects, the two will be in and out of the studio during the winter, and planning a tour for the New Year.

lukeandcharlotteritchie

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