Punctual are a production duo consisting of John Morgan and Will Lansley, born John Nicholas Ealand Morgan and William Martyn Morris Lansley. Their 2020 single, " I Don't Wanna Know", charted at No. 83 on the UK Singles Chart, and their 2023 single, " On & On", charted at No. 30 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. They also produced Raye and Rudimental's " Regardless" and Jason Derulo's " Acapulco", which charted at numbers 37 and 65 on the UK Singles Chart respectively.

Life and career

John Nicholas Ealand Morgan and William Martyn Morris Lansley ^[1] grew up in Newbury, Berkshire, and met as teenagers ^[2] after being introduced by a friend with whom both were independently making music with, first meeting in a bedroom making music together. ^[3] Both attended the University of Bristol. ^[4] In 2016, the pair released "Eva", their debut single, ^[5] which featured a manipulated voice sample and a B-side track, "Fix". ^[6] A music video was released for the former in January 2017. ^[7] They then moved to South London, and in July 2017, the pair released "What I Love" alongside a music video shot on various housing estates in South London, which ended with a long panning shot of the London skyline. ^[8] In September 2017, the pair released "Fading Youth" alongside a video and an EP, ^[9] which featured "What I Love", ^[10] and in July 2018, they released "King Without a Crown", which featured Skinny Living and Kid Ink. ^[11] In July 2019, they released "Anything (For Your Love)", ^[12] and the following month, they released "Don't Take It Personal" featuring Malika. ^[13]

In July 2020, they released a cover of the Mario Winans song " I Don't Wanna Know" after flicking through old R&B acapellas and discovering his, ^[14] which charted at No. 83 on the UK Singles Chart, ^[15] and in November 2020, Raye and Rudimental released " Regardless", ^[16] which Punctual produced, ^[3] and which charted at No. 37 on the UK Singles Chart. ^[17] They then released "The Step" with Nabiha, which sampled Missy Elliott's " I'm Really Hot", ^[3] and "Smoke Ring", which they co-wrote with Gez O'Connell and Jordan Riley, ^[18] the former of Ritual. ^[19] In July 2021, ^[20] they and Aluna Francis of AlunaGeorge released "Summer of Love", ^[21] an attempt by Francis to relay the emotions she was feeling about 2021, ^[20] and in September 2021, Jason Derulo released " Acapulco", ^[22] which was produced by Punctual, ^[23] and charted at No. 65 on the UK Singles Chart. ^[24] In March 2022, they, TCTS, and Raphaella released "Love Me or Lie", a song Raphaella wrote during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom about mixed signals received at the beginning of a relationship and recorded in her makeshift home studio in her parents' living room; ^[25] in an interview with Notion, TCTS stated he approached Punctual with the idea after producing a remix of "I Don't Wanna Know". ^[26]

In April 2022, they released "We Could Have It All", ^[27] which Raphaella and Sarah Close wrote the melodies for, ^[2] and in March 2023, they, Armin van Buuren, and Alika released " On & On", which charted at No. 30 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, ^[28] and appeared on van Buuren's album Feel Again. ^[29] In July 2023, their song "Do It All Again" charted at No. 60 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. ^[15] The pair then co-wrote Nonô's "Domingo", a song about falling for people not from Latin America, with her and Henry Tucker, hook and melody first; after being asked to expand it by the label, Nonô and Tucker wrote a second verse and had Punctual produce the song. ^[30] A video was later released for the song. ^[31]

Artistry

A July 2019 interview with Disco Mix Club stated that the pair cite Flume, Kaytranada, Calvin Harris, and Basement Jaxx as influences, ^[12] while in a February 2021 interview with Dancing Astronaut, they cited Riton, Rüfüs Du Sol, and Basement Jaxx. ^[3]

References