Hyphen Hyphen

Early years (2011–2014)

The band was formed at the lycée Masséna in Nice, South of France.^[1] They chose the term Hyphen from Ancient Greek ὑφ᾽ ἕν (hyph' hén) standing for "in one"^[2] through the looking-glass.^[3]

Santa and Adam are childhood friends, and met Line and Zac in high school.

In March 2011, Hyphen Hyphen self-released their first extended play titled Chewbacca I'm Your Mother.^[4]

Having taken part in several regional as well as national music contests, they notably won the Prix du Jury of Les Inrocks Lab, and the Biennial of Young Creators from Europe and the Mediterranean.

In 2012, they released their second EP Wild Union.^[5] The first elements from their current visual identity began showing with these projects, including tribal signs. They would later use the term Wild Union to describe the bond they formed both within the band and with their ever-growing audience.

After performances in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Hyphen Hyphen started performing all over France including high-profile festivals such as Printemps de Bourges as finalists,^[6] and Rock en Seine.^[7]

In 2013, Hyphen Hyphen won FAIR,^[8] détours ADAMI, and Best Live of OÜI FM radio.^[9] They participed to Solidays^[10] and Eurockéennes de Belfort.^[11]

Times and HH (2014–2020)

On 18 September 2015, their debut album Times, with all tracks written, composed, arranged and produced by the then four members, was released in France.^[12] They recorded the voices of Just Need Your Love at Villa Coco Beach.^[13] This song was also subject to a music video, directed by John Poliquin^[14] and produced by Hervé Humbert for U-Man films.

The group designs the visual of their album covers.^[3]

On 12 February 2016, Hyphen Hyphen won the Award for Revelation Scene (Best New Live act) at Victoires de la Musique, the French Music Awards, with their memorable performance of Just Need Your Love.^[15] In September 2016, the film director Jalil Lespert chose this music for his short movie Paris Je t'aime featuring Astrid Roos.^[16]

In September 2017, the band released the fifth track from Times, Closer to You, as a single.

On April 7, 2018, Hyphen Hyphen performed at 30th Chorus festival in La Seine musicale, Île Seguin.^[17] On 25 May 2018, Hyphen Hyphen released their second album HH^[18] and went on tour for over one and a half-years. They performed more than 150 shows all around France, Belgium and Switzerland. The album has been recorded in Studio Atlas Paris.^[19]

On 22 March 2019, the single Lonely Baby featuring Kiiara was released internationally.

C'est La Vie and solo project (2020–2025)

Santa - Hyphen Hyphen in 2016.

Starting in 2020, the band began the writing and production of their fourth album, C'est La Vie. They wrote and autoproduced most of the songs during lockdown. The album was recorded in ICP Studio, Brussels, where the band also recorded their first album Times in 2015.

On 21 June 2022, the band performed during the Summerstage Festival in Central Park.^[20]

Hyphen Hyphen released the first single of their new album on May 13, 2022, titled Don't Wait for Me. Two weeks later on May 30, the band released the single Too Young, which was chosen by the French TV network TF1 and FIFA to be the official anthem for UEFA Women's Euro 2022.^[21][22]

In September 2022, the band officially announced their new 2023 European Tour C'est La Vie Tour, with performances in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Later that year, Hyphen Hyphen released the album's third single Call My Name. Prior to the launch of the adjacent tour, the band released the fourth and final single from the album, called Own God.

On 20 January 2023, Hyphen Hyphen release their fourth album C'est La Vie, before embarking on a North America tour in August 2023.^[21]

According to a June 2025 article on RTBF, Hyphen Hyphen disbanded earlier that year.^[23]

Albums

EP

• Chewbacca I Am Your Mother (2011): Grace, Epiphany, Only One, Baby Baby Sweet Sweet, Never Ever;^[31]
• Wild Union^[32] (2012): Major Tom, Atlas,^[33] Wild Patterns, Mvt II, Empty Fire.

Times (2015)

HH (2018)

C'est La Vie (2023)

Singles

*Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts, but rather in the bubbling under Ultratip charts.
**Did not appear in the official Belgian Ultratop 50 charts nor the bubbling under Ultratip charts, but was registered in the Ultratip charts as an extra tip.

Other charting songs

Songwriting

• 2020: Ali – Paris me dit (Yalla ya helo!) – (Finalist for Eurovision France, c'est vous qui décidez! for selecting representative to Eurovision Song Contest