London Grammar have spoken to Music Week about sticking to their guns on their upcoming fourth album, The Greatest Love.
The trio - lead vocalist and songwriter Hannah Reid, multi-instrumentalist and producer Dot Major, and guitarist Dan Rothman - star on the cover of our latest issue, and are about to embark on a new era with the dance-focused new LP.
The group are targeting their third No.1 album with The Greatest Love, which drops on September 13 via long-term label Ministry Of Sound, having previously hit the top spot with 2021's chart-topping Californian Soil (120.638 sales, OCC) and 2017's Truth Is A Beautiful Thing (273,904 sales).
Their biggest-seller, 2013 debut If You Wait (835,249 sales), peaked at No.2.
“After our first record, sometimes we felt we were under lots of pressure,” said Hannah Reid, speaking in the new issue of Music Week. “But now that we have our fanbase we can be confident in that and make music that we love.”
Rothman said that matching the No.1 successes of their last two albums is “definitely a goal for me”, adding: "All bands are competitive - they just don’t admit it.”
We want Dipesh [Parmar] to be excited and his opinion really matters to us. But if somebody told us to change something, we’d say no
Hannah Reid
After writing the initial demos at home, the Ivor Novello-winning band completed the record at Damon Albarn's Studio 13.
“We could close off the outside, it was just about the three of us,” said Reid. “It’s better making records that way, without a huge interruption of year-long tours in between. Some people can keep making music whilst being on tour, but we can’t, really.”
Despite feeling confident their new music represents their finest work to date, Reid revealed that “some people around us said they didn’t like some of the songs”. While the group remained steadfast in their view, they took on board comments from long-term A&R - and current Columbia president - Dipesh Parmar, who signed the band to Ministry Of Sound over a decade ago.
“We want Dipesh to be excited and his opinion really matters to us,” said Reid. “But, if somebody told us to change something, we’d say no.”
Referencing misogyny and sexism, Reid said she approached songwriting with a newfound “celebratory” outlook.
“I think the music industry, in general, did at times make me quite insecure and lose a lot of confidence,” she confided. “As an artist, I do find that elements of it can feel quite brutal sometimes. In the past I could be quite passive or just unaware. And, if you’re not very defined about who you are as an artist, other people will start hanging things on you… What they think you should be.”
“It’s been quite a learning curve for me to understand, from Hannah’s point of view, what it means to be the front person of the band,” reflected Rothman. “And, also, what it means for her to be a woman in the music industry.”
We need more women at the top. I think it all trickles down and I don’t think you can have genuine change without that
Hannah Reid
On that front, Reid said there had been progress made post #MeToo, with visible improvements such as better gender splits on festival line-ups.
“It used to be very male-heavy, whereas I’d say it’s now 50/50,” she said. “There’s still a long way to go. We need more women at the top. I think it all trickles down and I don’t think you can have genuine change without that.”
Reid went on to turn her attention to the wider industry.
“Artists in general should be more empowered,” she added. “There’s something about the whole way that the music industry is set up that, ethically, is incorrect. There are some incredible artists, male and female, who can’t afford to make art any more.
"I don’t see how any genuine, long-lasting social change can happen unless the art itself is empowered, so that needs to change. The art needs to inform the business, whereas at the moment the business is informing the art.”
London Grammar announced their biggest tour to date in the days after closing the Park Stage to a huge crowd at Glastonbury 2024. This autumn wil see them headline arenas for the first time, involving stops in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Berlin, Glasgow and Manchester, culminating at The O2 in London on 14 November.
Demand for the dates has been so strong that almost double the amount of European tickets have been sold compared to what was originally on sale.
“We’ve worked really hard on this show, and I know it sounds cliché, but we’re very proud,” said Reid. “Genuinely, as a band, we have ridden some waves and worked really, really hard to get to this point.”
Subscribers can read the full London Grammar cover story, also featuring Ministry Of Sound’s Dipesh Parmar and Tap Music Management’s Tony Beard and Liv Plunket, in the current edition of Music Week. It's also available online for subscribers here.
