Hue and Cry

Formed in 1983 in Coatbridge, Scotland, by brothers Pat Kane and Greg Kane, Hue and Cry operate within a pop-soul vein informed by blue-eyed soul, sophisti-pop and jazz inflections. After an attention-grabbing initial release on the Scottish label Stampede in 1986, Hue and Cry joined Circa and issued Seduced and Abandoned in 1987, propelled notably by the track Labour of Love, followed by Remote in 1988, where the duo honed a songwriting approach that combined pop melodies, soulful vocals and more sophisticated arrangements. In the 1990s they broadened their palette with Stars Crash Down (1991), Truth and Love (1992) and Showtime! (1994), the latter produced with arranger Richard Niles, before moving more explicitly toward jazz on Jazz Not Jazz (1996) and Next Move (1999). This period also brought them closer to the Scottish jazz scene and to musicians such as Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Mike Stern and Tommy Smith. Returning regularly to the stage from the 2000s onwards, Hue and Cry alternated between acoustic piano-and-voice formats and full-band concerts, and later added Open Soul (2008), Hot Wire (2012), Pocketful of Stones (2017) and Hue And Cry 40 (2024) to their discography.