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Portico Quartet’s quietly-brilliant fusion of jazz, world, electronica (and more) has landed them fans across the world, at least three record deals and a Mercury Music Prize nomination. It’s not been an easy ride, but with a new album just out (and another on the way), it’s time to pause, reflect and, well, hang…

Photo: Hannah Collins

Portico Quartet have enjoyed – and endured – quite a history. They have been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize, had at least three record deals (including Ninja Tune and Real World), a change in name, a change in line-up (actually more than one), a change in musical styles and indeed, really, a total change in band. Look, it’s complicated, right? The band initially hit world – or at least Mercury – wide success with their world/jazz/ ambient sound, often based around a hang (percussion instrument). When hang player Nick Mulvey left, the band changed style and dropped the ‘Quartet’ bit of their name, but later returned both name and sound (with an additional band member and sampling). Now the band comprises founders Duncan Bellamy and Jack Wyllie, and they have just released the album Terrain, a three-part suite ‘drawing on American minimalism and ambient’. Jack Wyllie attempts to explain all