[4] Daggers continued to build a following throughout 2008, and worked with successful producers such as Biff Stannard and Richard X; however, after a disastrous showcase gig for record label representatives in London, Hutchcraft and Anderson returned to Manchester in September to reflect on the band's future.

After informing the other members of Daggers that they would be leaving the band to continue as a duo, they went on a short break to Verona, where they claim to have been inspired by a little-known genre from the early 1990s called "disco lento".

[5] Now called Hurts, Hutchcraft and Anderson recorded a low-budget music video for their song "Wonderful Life" with a female dancer who had responded to an advert they placed in a shop window.

Hurts finished fourth on the BBC's "Sound of 2010" poll,[8] and Zane Lowe premiered their song "Blood, Tears & Gold" as his "Hottest Record in the World" soon after.

Hurts' debut album Happiness was released in September 2010, reaching the top 10 in 12 European countries and selling over 1 million copies worldwide.

Hutchcraft co-wrote the songs "Saturdays", "Silver Tongues", and "She Is Beauty We Are World Class" for Louis Tomlinson's 2022 album Faith in the Future.