Charlotte Hatherley

Ash (1997–2006)

Born in London, Hatherley was brought up in West London and attended Chiswick Community School. Her music career began at the age of 15, when she played in British punk band Nightnurse.^[1] Around this time, Ash were looking for a guitarist to add to their live sound, and Hatherley was hired after Ash frontman Tim Wheeler saw her play at a Nightnurse gig. Hatherley's Ash debut was at Belfast's Limelight on 10 August 1997,^[2] and the following week the new lineup played the 1997 V Festival in front of 50,000 people. Her recording debut with the band happened later that year on the single "A Life Less Ordinary" and then on the album Nu-Clear Sounds in 1998.

Hatherley was credited with writing a handful of Ash's songs, the most notable being "Grey Will Fade", on the B-side of the single "There's a Star". The song was a cult favourite among fans, and eventually became the title track of Hatherley's debut solo album. While recording the album Meltdown with Ash, Hatherley began to record her own album Grey Will Fade. From the album she released the singles "Bastardo", "Summer" (both videos directed by Edgar Wright), and "Kim Wilde", which all received high praise from critics.

Solo (2006–2012)

On 20 January 2006 it was announced that Hatherley would be leaving Ash in an amicable breakup. ^[3] Hatherley's second album The Deep Blue was released on 5 March 2007. It was preceded by two singles; "Behave", in December, and "I Want You To Know" along with an accompanying UK and Ireland tour. For Nokia Online, David Bowie reviewed the single “Behave”, writing, ‘Behave is proof that Charlotte made the right decision to go solo. The guitar part is an instant hook, that has a kind of Eno-esque quirkiness about it... Impossibly catchy, you’ll find this popping into your head when you least expect it.’ Two more singles were released to promote the album, "Siberia" and "Again". In 2007, Hatherley also opened for Blondie on their UK tour and played guitar for Bryan Ferry.

Hatherley's third solo album New Worlds (album) was released on October 2009. Pitchfork gave the album 8.0, writing, ‘Hatherley is a meticulous artist, and her songs are carefully constructed things designed for a powerful dynamic impact without sacrificing elegance and grace. She's the best sort of craft-driven writer, consistently avoiding ostentatious displays of technical ingenuity while subtly exerting her skill in ways that call attention to, rather than distract from, her melodies.’^[4] The record was also Sunday Times record of the week: ‘These are sensational songs, from an artist who remains bafflingly overlooked, but continues to dive into that tiny pool and come up bearing pearls.’ Hatherley also joined Bat for Lashes as a live member of the band throughout 2009.

In 2010 Hatherley joined KT Tunstall's band, playing lead guitar. The 2010/11 tour coincided with the release of Tunstall's Tiger Suit album. In an interview with the Galway Advertiser, on 13 January 2011, Tunstall said that Hatherley had helped her "to find the voice that she had always been searching for. Charlotte has just blown us all away. She’s an exceptionally talented musician and very visceral. It’s just pure emotion when she plays. It was interesting seeing her take on the role because it’d been a while since she’d had a full on lead guitar gig. This is probably the most heavy-riffed stuff I’ve ever written. I had all these tribal backing vocal bits planned and suddenly I discovered Charlotte could do them all. Our voices are spookily similar and it’s nice for me to have another girl in the band. Neither of us are super girly girl and we’re both really into our music".

In February 2012, Hatherley began performing under the name of Sylver Tongue. She released the Something Big EP in November 2012. Sylver Tongue supported Bat for Lashes on their October/November 2012 UK tour.

Film and theatre scoring (2013–2014)

Hatherley wrote the score for director Gavin Rothery’s sci-fi short film The Last Man.^[5] The Last Man premiered at the Frightfest festival in London in 2014. Hatherley performed The Last Man soundtrack at the British Film Institute as part of their major three month focus on sci-fi on screen, ‘Days of Fear and Wonder’. In 2014 Hatherley also composed the music for Stella Feehily’s play ‘This May Hurt A Bit’, directed by Max Stafford-Clark.

(2015–present)

During 2015/2016 Hatherley was a performing member of NZCA Lines, and throughout 2016/2017 toured as guitarist/keyboardist for Birdy, coinciding with the release of Birdy’s Beautiful Lies album.

In 2017 Hatherley pre-released a new solo album via PledgeMusic called True Love. Inspired by her love of science fiction, the album tells the story of Traveller, a heartbroken alien searching for love. It received a 4/5 star review in The Evening Standard.^[6] Their critic wrote, 'Vangelis’s Blade Runner soundtrack is the obvious inspiration behind these ethereal soundscapes, although this is much more than derivative, fangirl fare. A Sign and Hook You Up are glorious pop songs in their own right, while Hatherley’s yearning vocals ensure that even the most robotic moments retain a compelling human core.' The album is due for an official release in June 2018.

Three singles have been released from the record, "A Sign" and "Night Vision" and "Hook You Up". The five-track Night Vision EP contained cover versions of songs from cinema, including the Bee Gees’ "How Deep Is Your Love". The video was made in collaboration with the European Space Agency.^[7]

Since October 2017 Hatherley has been Musical Director, guitarist and keyboardist for South African artist Nakhane.

Albums

Singles

Music Videos