Zero 7

Zero 7 is a London-based electronic duo formed by Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. The group is active from 1997 and is associated with downtempo, acid jazz, electronica, soul and trip hop.

Origins

Binns and Hardaker begin their career as studio engineers at Mickie Most’s RAK recording studio in London, where they work on records by artists including the Pet Shop Boys, Young Disciples and Robert Plant. In 1997, they remix Radiohead’s “Climbing Up the Walls” at the request of their college friend Nigel Godrich, who is working on OK Computer. They title the version “the Zero 7 Mix”, and the name becomes their group name.

Early releases and breakthrough

In January 2000, Zero 7 release their first original EP, EP 1, under their new name. The release is limited to 1,000 copies. EP 2 follows in September 2000. Their debut album, Simple Things, arrives in April 2001 and includes collaborations with Mozez, Sia and Sophie Barker. It reaches number 28 on the UK albums chart, goes platinum, is nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and wins the Muzik Award for Best Newcomer.

After the release of Simple Things, their live performances feature Binns and Hardaker with guest vocalists and other musicians, sometimes with as many as 20 performers on stage.

Albums and collaborations

When It Falls is released in March 2004. It again features Mozez, Sia and Sophie Barker, and also includes Danish singer-songwriter Tina Dico. The album reaches number 3 in the UK, their highest chart position, and becomes platinum. In the same year, Binns co-writes Emma Bunton’s track “Breathing”.

The Garden follows in May 2006. Binns provides vocals on the record alongside guest appearances from Sia and Swedish folk musician José González. The album is named after a collage by artist and friend Gideon London, who creates the cover artwork. It reaches number 4 in the UK, is certified gold and is nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Electronic/Dance Album category.

Experimentation and later work

The duo then moves into a more experimental period. In 2007, Binns and Hardaker form Ingrid Eto, described as an instrumental Zero 7 project, and perform live a few times that year. In 2009, they release the instrumental Kling EP under the name Kling, and the material is later folded into Zero 7’s fourth album, Yeah Ghost. That album also features contributions from jazz and soul singer Eska Mtungwazi and folk artist Martha Tilston.

In June 2010, Zero 7 release the retrospective compilation Record. A two-disc special edition includes exclusive remixes drawn from all four of their studio albums released up to that point.

Later releases are mainly EPs and singles, including “On My Own” / “Don’t Call It Love” in 2013, the Simple Science EP in 2014, EP3 in 2015, “Mono” featuring Hidden in 2018, “Aurora” featuring José González and “Swimmers” featuring Jem Cooke in 2019, and the Shadows EP featuring Lou Stone in 2021.

Henry Binns and Equador

In 2016, Henry Binns forms Equador with Bo Bruce. The project releases the album Bones of Man in 2016 and the EP Tribal War in 2018.

2024 release

In 2024, Zero 7 begins releasing new music with Swim Surreal. The singles “The Crowd”, “Bloom” and “Don’t Call it Love” appear before the full-length album In the Half Light, a nine-track collaboration with Swim Surreal. All songs are co-written and produced by Zero 7, and the album functions as their fifth Zero 7 album and first since 2009.