Amber Run

Amber Run are an alternative rock and indie pop band from Nottingham, United Kingdom, active since 2012. The group’s current line-up is Felix Archer, Joshua Keogh, Tom Sperring and Henry Wyeth. Their music sits within indie rock, rock, alternative rock and indie pop, and they are also described as an indie rock and pop rock act.

Formation and early years

Joshua Keogh, Tom Sperring and Will Jones initially form the band while attending Dr Challoner’s Grammar School in Buckinghamshire. Keogh has previously performed as a solo artist. The band later meets Felix Archer, who is from the same area, and Henry Wyeth, who is from Kent, while all of them are studying at the University of Nottingham. The members first study humanities or law, but leave university to focus on the band.

The group first uses the name Amber, then changes it to Amber Run to avoid confusion with a Dutch dance-pop singer of the same name.

Recordings and releases

Amber Run sign to RCA Records after appearing on the BBC Introducing stage at Reading Festival in 2013, which is their fourth live performance. Their early releases arrive in 2014: the EPs Noah, Spark and Pilot. They support Kodaline on tour around the time of Spark.

The band records its debut album with producers Mike Crossey and Sam Winfield in early 2014. The lead single Just My Soul Responding precedes the album 5am, which is released in 2015. Felix Archer leaves the band in early 2016.

The second album, For a Moment, I Was Lost, follows in 2017, with singles including Stranger, Perfect, The Weight and Heaven Is a Place. In 2018, the band releases The Assembly, an EP that includes those singles plus Amen and a version featuring London Contemporary Voices.

The third album, Philophobia, follows in 2019 after a run of singles released between late 2018 and 2019, including Carousel, Affection, Neon Circus, The Darkness Has a Voice and What Could Be as Lonely as Love. In 2020, the band releases an unplugged EP containing six songs from Philophobia.

Mini-albums and later work

Amber Run later release a trilogy of mini-albums: The Search (Act I) in 2021, The Start (Act II) in 2022 and The Hurt (Act III) in 2022. Singles from this period include Cradle and Funeral. Their fourth studio album, How to Be Human, follows in 2023.

Release overview

The band’s discography includes four studio albums, three mini-albums and five EPs. Their studio albums are 5am, For a Moment, I Was Lost, Philophobia and How to Be Human.