Hat or Belt is the stage name of Canterbury-based songwriter/music-maker Keith Harbottle (Hat or Belt being an anagram of his surname).
Hat or Belt blends reflective lyrics, catchy riffs and hummable tunes in a synth pop and indie pop/rock style, with English spoken-sung vocals.
The songs have been called “quirky”, “catchy”, “hooky”, “poignant” and “touching”, likened to Cockney Rebel, Howard Jones, Lightning Seeds, Madness, New Musik, Pet Shop Boys, Prefab Sprout, Squeeze, Two Door Cinema Club and Velvet Underground.
Hat or Belt pushed the boat out for the debut singles and album, teaming up with top engineers, producers and guest musicians at Lightship 95, a former lightship, now a recording studio in London’s Docklands.
All 12 songs on the debut Hat or Belt album, When The Song Comes In, were recorded and produced at Lightship 95. To whet listeners' appetites, four singles (included on the new album) washed ashore, picking up positive feedback and a good amount of radio airplay - check out the Listen, Watch and Radio pages.
Thank you
to everyone at Lightship 95 for keeping Hat or Belt songs afloat: Giles Barrett, Dave Holmes, Mike Collins and various interns, plus the guest musicians who came aboard (quite literally in some cases): drummer John Applegarth, saxophonist Allexa Nava, backing vocalists Anna Laura Lombardi and Lisa Marini, cellist Rachel Shakespeare and trumpeter Sam Warner.
A big thank you also to Ewan McKenzie at The Music Elevator for the radio promotion campaigns.