Courting are a British electronic rock band based in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. The group consists of lead vocalist Sean Murphy-O'Neill, drummer Sean Thomas, guitarist Joshua Cope and bassist Connor McCann. Since their formation in 2018, they have released one extended play, ''

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

'' (2021), and three studio albums: ''

Guitar Music The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with some exceptions) and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the d ...

'' in 2022, '' New Last Name'' in 2024, and '' Lust for Life, Or: 'How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story''' in 2025.

History

Formation

The band formed in 2018 in

. Throughout 2019 and 2020, the band released multiple singles including "David Byrne's Badside" and "Football", both of which received a limited run double A-side 7" record via Nice Swan Records. They released their debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''Grand National'', in April 2021.

''Guitar Music''

On 5 April 2022, Courting released the song "Tennis" as the lead single to their yet-unannounced debut album. The track, described by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' as tongue-in-cheek, was afforded rotation on

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 ...

. The second single, "Loaded", was released on 25 May 2022. On 16 August 2022 the band released the third single "Jumper" in promotion of the album. In an interview with '' DIY'', the band described the song as "an outlier on the album". Sean Murphy-O’Neil further said of the album that it "is a gentle story of true unrequited love, meant to playout like a 2006

romcom Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Romantic comedy e ...

." On 23 September 2022 Courting released their debut studio album ''

'' to critical acclaim. ''NME'' described the album as "a raucously fun debut that serves all aces". The albums release was supported by an extensive UK tour.

''New Last Name''

Over the course of 2023, Courting played various one off 'roadtesting' shows around the UK and Europe, debuting many new songs live. On 13 February the band played a sold out show titled The Wedding. Two live tracks from this session, versions of "Tennis" and "Jumper", were later released on the group's

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

page, as well as a cover of the

Icona Pop Icona Pop ( ) are a Swedish synth-pop duo that formed in 2009, with electro house and indie pop music influences. Its two members, Aino Jawo (born 7 July 1986) and Caroline Hjelt (born 8 November 1987), grew up in Stockholm and created what the ...

and

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

track " I Love It". The band also supported

Circa Waves Circa Waves are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2013. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and drummer Colin Jones. History Early years (2013) Shudall met ...

on their 2023 UK tour. On 7 July 2023 Courting released the song "Flex" as the first single off of their upcoming second studio album, which was reviewed positively by critics. In late 2023, the band started teasing a one-off tie-in project, 'The Throwbecks' as a way of promoting the album. The band performed a single show billed as 'The Throwbecks' on 16 November 2021 at the Kazimer in Liverpool. On 8 November 2023, the second single off the album, "Throw", was premiered on

, as well as the band's second album '' New Last Name'' being announced for a 26 January 2024 release. Despite ''New Last Name'' being a studio album, the band stated that it "came together as a play" and while the record is connected by a narrative, it is mainly a collection of the band's "most contained pop songs, and strangest experiments sat side by side". On 14 December 2023 Courting released "Emily G" as the third single from ''New Last Name''. On 8 January 2024 the album's fourth and final single "We Look Good Together (Big Words)" premiered on BBC Radio 6. On 23 January 2024, Courting did a live session as part of BBC Radio 1's

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

sessions series, including live renditions of "Throw" and "We Look Good Together". The band also teased fans on social media and on the radio that they would also be covering a song by

the 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in 2002. The band consists of Matty Healy (lead vocals, guitar, primary songwriter), Adam Hann (lead guitar), Ross MacDonald (bass), and George Daniel (drums, primary produ ...

. Instead, the group played the opening riff to their hit single " It's Not Living (If It's Not with You)" before transitioning into a cover of

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She began her career as a child, appearing in commercials and the direct-to-video film '' An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success'' (2015). She rose ...

's hit single " Bad Idea Right?". On 26 January 2024, Courting released ''New Last Name''.

''Lust for Life''

On 20 November 2024, Courting announced the forthcoming release of their third studio album, ''Lust for Life, Or: 'How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story. Its lead single, "Pause at You", was issued on the same day.'''' The album was released on 14 March 2025.

Style and songwriting motifs

The band have been described as a clash of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and

hyperpop Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) is a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated during the early 2010s in the United Kingdom. It is characterised by an exaggerated or maximalist take on p ...

. The band have also been described as

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, and

art punk Art punk, or artcore, is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and ...

. The band have become known for their frequent references to car parks throughout their songs, as well as having two of the groups biggest tracks ("Football" and "Tennis") referencing sports in their titles. The band have also previously written about fame, British

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

culture and falling in love with robot influencers.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2022) – 43 Scottish Albums, No. 21 UK Independent Albums * '' New Last Name'' (2024) – No. 37 Scottish Albums, No. 9 UK Independent Albums * '' Lust for Life, Or: 'How to Thread the Needle and Come Out the Other Side to Tell the Story''' (2025) – No. 54 Scottish Albums, No. 39 UK Independent Albums

Extended plays

* ''

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

'' (2021)

Singles

Other appearances

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control English rock music groups PIAS Recordings artists Musical groups established in 2018 British musical quartets Rock music groups from Liverpool 2018 establishments in the United Kingdom Hyperpop musicians