For the past year the band have been impressing audiences on London's South Bank, selling over 10,000 CDs. Now their debut album 'Knee Deep In The North Sea' sees an official release through the new Vortex label on November 5th. Portico Quartet recently sold out a headline show at the Islington Academy for Time Out magazine, had sync rights to their music snapped up by Channel 4 and MTV and have been invited to record a session for Gilles Peterson's Worldwide show. A band who make experimental and adventurous music sound wonderfully accessible, Portico Quartet are like nothing you've heard before. The centre-piece for their ethereal compositions is an other-worldly instrument known as the hang. Imagine an upside-down steel drum with gamelan influences.

Portico Quartet is this year's crossover jazz success story. Judge for yourself.

‘Portico Quartet sound like nothing you’ve ever heard’ Time Out preview

‘...their hook-based, jaunty, yet subtly layered music is tailor-made to find friends everywhere.’ Guardian live review