London Grammar

Eleven years after London Grammar’s double platinum-selling debut If You Wait, the band release their fourth album, The Greatest Love. It’s a celebration of creative freedom for a group who’ve carved a unique path, performing to stadium crowds while swerving celebrity. Having sold 3 million albums world-wide, with two #1 selling records, an Ivor Novello win and numerous BRIT Award nominations under their belts, Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dot Major have enjoyed rare longevity and success for three musicians who met as teenagers at university. ‘Getting to this point is the proudest achievement of my life,’ says frontwoman and songwriter Hannah.

As a young band keen to find their audience, they had held nothing back in promoting 2013’s game-changing If You Wait and 2017 follow-up Truth Is a Beautiful Thing, which hit number one. ‘It was drummed into us early that you had to kill yourself on the road if you wanted to get anywhere, and that is true, to an extent,’ says Hannah, who recently welcomed her first child. ‘If it starts coming at the cost of the creative process, though, there’s no point in doing any of it.’

Hannah lives with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, which can be triggered by stress. In the build-up to their third album, Californian Soil, she was focused on preserving her energy in preparation for promoting the record. ‘We were so geared up to release it,’ she recalls. ‘I knew I’d have to get through a lot of shows, so I’d got myself really fit and healthy – but then lockdown hit. Suddenly we had no idea whether we’d be able to tour.’

Their uncertainty about the future was a wake-up call. ‘It felt possible that we might not do another gig for years. We had to ask ourselves: if we’re not touring, what do we want to do?’

The question was revelatory. ‘We realised that writing songs, and making art that makes us happy, is actually the job,’ says Hannah. ‘Nothing else really matters.’ Californian Soil had explored her experiences of misogyny in music, but now that the band had more unscheduled time to talk, she realised that Dan and Dot had also been bruised by the industry. ‘It had made all three of us insecure in different ways, but suddenly we were spending hours making music and talking – it was like band therapy.’

‘In the past we’ve been surrounded by very masculine behaviour, and it became problematic,’ agrees Dan. ‘I think Dot and I are part of the generation of men who’ve crossed over and become more conscious of how that behaviour affected us and rubbed off on us – and that awareness has helped us to become happier as a band.’

Now they return with The Greatest Love, the fruit of a joyfully creative period. It delivers the heartrending lyrics and celestial vocals that London Grammar fans adore, but includes moments of real freedom and celebration. Opening track House sets the tone. Over a driving beat – set to fill dancefloors all year – comes an uncompromising lyric: This is my place, my house, my rules. ‘It’s about drawing boundaries around yourself,’ says Hannah, who is now thirty-four. ‘When I hit my thirties, my mindset shifted, and I no longer felt like a victim of anything – it all felt within my power. I thought, making music should be fun, and we’re gonna make that happen.’

The London Grammar sound is as genre-blending as ever, moving smoothly from electronica to pop. The album’s second track, Fakest Bitch, is a ballad accompanied by stripped-back piano and guitar – yet its razor-sharp lyrics provide a satisfying contrast. Don’t turn to me with the driest tears that you’ve been faking for years, sings Hannah, addressing a (fictional) frenemy with that immaculate voice. She’s ‘obsessed’ with the track, she says; it was written in an hour, and features the original demo vocal. ‘It also makes me a little uncomfortable, which I think is a good sign,’ she laughs. ‘It came out so quickly, and the lyrics are savage but some of my best.’

The future looks bright. ‘I want us to keep making music together until we’re old, wrinkly and completely irrelevant,’ she jokes. ‘As long as we prioritise the art, there is no reason why we can’t go on for decades.’