The name Zero 7 was chosen after Binns and Hardaker spent time on the Honduran island
Utila, which contained a bar named Cero Siete. After returning to the UK they were asked by Radiohead to remix the song "Climbing Up the Walls". Binns and Hardaker called their mix "the Zero 7 Mix", and the name stuck. In 1999, they released an
EP of original material called
EP 1 under the name Zero 7. In 2001, they released their debut album,
Simple Things, which featured collaborations with vocalists
Mozez,
Sia, and
Sophie Barker. The album peaked at number 28 on the UK albums chart and went
platinum. It was later nominated for the
Mercury Music Prize and won the "Best Newcomer"
Muzik Award. Live appearances after the album's release consisted of Binns and Hardaker along with guest vocalists and other musicians, with as many as 20 performers on stage at once. In 2004, they released their second album,
When It Falls. In addition to the three vocalists from their first album, it featured a collaboration with Danish singer-songwriter
Tina Dico. It peaked at number 3 on the UK albums chart, their highest charting to date, and became a certified
gold record. That same year, Binns co-wrote the
Emma Bunton track "Breathing". in 2006 Zero 7 released their third album,
The Garden, in May 2006, which contained vocals performed by Binns as well as guest vocalists Sia and Swedish folk musician
José González. The album was named after the collage that artist friend
Gideon London produced for its cover. In 2007, Binns and Hardaker created a band called Ingrid Eto, which has been described as a Zero 7 instrumental project. In 2009, they released an experimental instrumental EP under the name Kling, titled
Kling EP. Its tracks were later incorporated into Zero 7's fourth album,
Yeah Ghost, also released in 2009. The album included contributions from jazz and soul singer
Eska Mtungwazi as well as folk artist
Martha Tilston. In 2014, the band released the
Simple Science EP, followed by
EP3 in 2015. Both were released on Make Records. In 2016, Henry Binns teamed up with Bo Bruce and Jodi Milliner to form a group called Equador. At the end of 2018, Zero 7 released the track "Mono" featuring Hidden. This was followed at the beginning of 2019 by "Aurora". In October 2019, the duo released another single titled "Swimmers" with additional vocals courtesy of UK based singer Jem Cooke. Later in August 2020, the band released another single, "Shadows", and announced an upcoming EP. In October 2020, the Shadows EP was released, containing 4 tracks by singer-songwriter Lou Stone. In March 2024, Zero 7 teased new music via social media. Then on 3 April they released their first new single, "The Crowd", from forthcoming album with California west coast based artist Swim Surreal. They followed this with their second single "Bloom" released on 15 May. On 5 June they released "Don't Call it Love" along with a video. Finally, 21 June saw the release of the full-length album
In the Half Light, a nine-song collaboration with Swim Surreal. All songs were co-written and produced by Zero 7, essentially comprising the fifth Zero 7 album, their first since 2009. ==Discography==