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Zero 7
Zero 7 in concert with Sia Furler
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Trip hop Downtempo Ambient music Acid jazz
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Ultimate Dilemma
Associated acts	Binki Shapiro, Sia Furler, Mozez, José González, Tina Dico, Sophie Barker, Martha Tilston, Eska Mtungwazi, Rowdy Superstar
Members	Henry Binns Sam Hardaker

Zero 7 is a British musical duo consisting of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. The group members began their musical careers as studio engineers and in 1997 formed the group Zero 7. Their debut album, Simple Things, was released in 2001 and received critical acclaim. Subsequent albums include: When It Falls, The Garden and Yeah Ghost.

History [edit]

After studying sound engineering, Binns and Hardaker began their careers in the music industry in the 1990s at Mickie Most's RAK recording studio in London, engineering music for British groups like the Pet Shop Boys, Young Disciples and Robert Plant. In 1997 they created a remix of the song "Climbing Up the Walls" by Radiohead, and Binns received a credit for additional sampling on Kid A. The pair also remixed Terry Callier's "Love Theme From Spartacus" and songs by Lenny Kravitz, Sneaker Pimps and Lambchop.

In 1999, they released an EP of original material called EP1, under the name Zero 7. In 2001, they released their debut album, Simple Things, which featured collaborations with vocalists Mozez, Sia Furler, and Sophie Barker. The album became a gold record and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and won the "Best Newcomer" Muzik Award. Live appearances after the album's release consisted of Binns and Hardaker, vocalists and other musicians, with as many as 20 performers on stage at once.

In 2002, Zero 7 released a DJ mix album for Azuli Records' Another Late Night series, which featured various hip hop and chill-out artists and a cover of Johnny Osbourne's "Truth & Rights".

In 2004, they released their second album, When It Falls. In addition to the three vocalists from their first album, it featured a collaboration with Danish singer-songwriter Tina Dico. That same year, Binns co-wrote the Emma Bunton track "Breathing".

Zero 7 2006 at Bumbershoot

Zero 7 released their third album, The Garden, in May 2006. The two vocalists featured on the album were Sia Furler, and José González. Henry Binns also sang on the album. The name of the album is derived from the cover art, which is a collection of collages done by an artist friend.

In 2007, Binns and Hardaker created a band called Ingrid Eto, which has been described as a Zero 7 instrumental project. The band also released an EP under the alias of Kling (which like Ingrid Eto was an experimental instrumental project). The tracks from Kling EP were later incorporated into Zero 7's fourth album Yeah Ghost.^[1] The album incorporated jazz and soul singer, Eska Mtungwazi, as well as folk artist Martha Tilston.^[2]

In 2010, the duo released a retrospective compilation album entitled Record. A two-disc special edition of Record also contained exclusive remixes of notable songs from all four of their prior released studio albums.

On 14 February 2012, the band announced on their website that they had returned to the studio to record new material.^[3]

Reception [edit]

The duo's songs have appeared in many films and television shows such as Blue Crush, Raising Helen, Smallville, Roswell, Obsessed, I'm with Lucy), "Give It Away" (Top Gear, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, I Give It a Year), "Polaris" (Sex and the City), "Pop Art Blue" "Waterloo Road", "In The Waiting Line" (Garden State, Sex and the City, House and Numb3rs).

Their song "Destiny" has appeared on the Lacoste website, SkyTV's broadcast of the Star Wars Saga and commercial. The song "In The Waiting Line" has appeared in a 2006 HBO ad, NBC's profile of Olympic Swimmer Laure Manaudou, Fox TV's 2009 season of House, the movie "Garden State", and is sampled in the hip hop song song "Nothing Iz Real" by Termanology.

Songs by Zero 7 have also appeared on the lounge music compilations The Chillout Project by Filipino DJ Anton Ramos, and the Hôtel Costes. The song "Lo" was featured on Layo & Bushwacka!.

Discography [edit]

Studio albums [edit]

• Simple Things (2001)
• When It Falls (2004)
• The Garden (2006)
• Yeah Ghost (2009)

Other albums [edit]

• Another Late Night (2002)
• Simple Things Remixes (2002)
• Record (2010)

Awards [edit]

• Nominated for Best British Newcomer at the Brit Awards 2002.
• Nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award for The Garden in the category Best Electronic/Dance Album

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Zero 7 at Allmusic
• Zero 7 discography at Discogs
• Zero 7 on Myspace