Aquilo are an English musical duo from

Silverdale, Lancashire Silverdale is a village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. The village stands on Morecambe Bay, near the border with Cumbria, north west of Carnforth and of Lancaster. The parish had a population ...

, consisting of Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher. They began gaining recognition in 2013 for their singles such as "Calling Me" and "You There", in addition to their five EPs. The duo's debut album, ''

Silhouettes A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

'', was released on 27 January 2017. Their second studio album, '' ii'', was released on 4 May 2018, and the third studio album ''A Safe Place To Be'' was released on 15 October 2021.

History

Career beginnings

Members Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher grew up as neighbours in

. They were both part of rivaling rock bands in their hometown. Higham studied music production in university. The two worked on their musical projects individually before collaborating as Aquilo.

2013–present: ''Aquilo'', ''Human'', and ''Calling Me''

Aquilo began receiving attention in 2013 for their debut tracks "You There" and "Calling Me". "You There" was included in

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's playlist on 12 June 2014 and the "Best Of BBC Introducing Stage" choices. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 2014 independent drama ''

Camp X-Ray Camp X-Ray was a temporary detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp of Joint Task Force 160 on board the United States Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The first twenty detainees arrived at Guantanamo on 11 January 2002. It was n ...

''. Additionally, they performed "Calling Me" and "You There" on the

BBC Introducing BBC Music Introducing is BBC Radio's platform supporting unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar UK music talent. The backbone of that network consists of 32 BBC local radio shows on stations across England and the Channel Islands, various ...

stage at the 2014

Glastonbury Festival 2014 The 2014 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held between 25 and 29 June 2014. Ticket sales Initially a small selection of tickets were sold for people who wished to travel by coach. A few days later the standard tickets w ...

on 28 June 2014. They also played at the 2014

Kendal Calling Kendal Calling is a music and arts festival, held annually at Lowther Deer Park in the Lake District, Cumbria in the North West of England. It has grown from a two-day, 900 capacity event in 2006 to a 40,000 capacity 4-day music festival. Kend ...

festival. Their first EP, ''Aquilo'', was released on 3 March 2014. On 8 December 2014, they released their second EP, ''Human''. On 5 March 2015, their collaboration with popular disc jockey Vanic, "Losing You", was released onto

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. It has so far accumulated over 7.5 million 'plays' on SoundCloud as of 10 April 2017. They also collaborated with French DJ and record producer

Madeon Hugo Pierre Leclercq (; born 30 May 1994), better known by his stage name Madeon (), is a French musician, DJ, songwriter, singer and music producer from Nantes, based in Los Angeles. He initially came to widespread public attention at age 17 th ...

on "Innocence" from his debut album, ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'', on 27 March. Besides collaborations, their third EP, ''Calling Me'', was released at the start of June that year. Another EP, ''Painting Picture Of A War,'' was later released on 4 December. On March 17th 2016, they played alongside alt-pop duo

Oh Wonder Oh Wonder are an English, London-based alt-pop duo consisting of Anthony Vander West (né West) and Josephine Vander West (née Vander Gucht). Since releasing their debut album, they have seen international success with their alt-pop singles. O ...

, at O2 Forum Kentish Town, London. In November 2016, the band appeared on Enigma's eighth studio album '' The Fall of a Rebel Angel''. They provided vocals to the album's closing track and second single, respectively, "

Amen Amen (, ; , ; , ; , ) is an Abrahamic declaration of affirmation which is first found in the Hebrew Bible, and subsequently found in the New Testament. It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic practices as a concluding word, or as a respons ...

". On 27 January 2017, the duo released their debut album, ''

''. Their second studio album, '' ii'', was released on 4 May 2018.

Musical style

Aquilo's music have been described mainly as

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

, as well as

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

. They are known for producing "soft, calm electro-pop", "chilled electronic", "ravishingly refined sort of dreamily sad

", and "fragile dream pop laced with subtle electronica and soulful vocals."Aquilo – Agenda – Ancienne Belgique – Official Website
zebrix.abconcerts.be

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

* "You There" (2014) * "I Gave It All" (2014) * "Losing You" (2014) * "Calling Me" (2015) * "Good Girl" (2015) * "Sorry" (2016) * "So Close to Magic" (2016) * "

" (2016) * "You Won't Know Where You Stand" (2017) * "Silhouette" (2017) * "Almost Over" (2017) * "I Could Fight on a Wall" (2017) * "Thin" (2017) * "Who Are You" (2017) * "Silent Movies" (2018) * "Seagull" (2018) * "Sober" (2020) * "Just Asking" (2020) * "Always Forever" (2020) * "Moving On" (2020) * "Missing the Mark" (2020) * "Out in LA" (2021) * "Our Bones Turn To Stone" (2021) * "I Wanna See You Smile" (2021) * "Painkiller" (2024)

References

External links

Website
* * {{Authority control British ambient music groups British dream pop musical groups English male musical duos English electronic music duos Island Records artists Musical groups from Lancashire Silverdale, Lancashire Year of establishment missing