Hurts stepped onto the main stage with Happiness - a debut album that framed their poised, grayscale world of synth-era glamour, doomed romance and operatic pop restraint. Working with Jonas Quant and The Nexus, the duo shaped widescreen songs with an emphasis on immaculate hooks and emotional spectacle, including a duet with Kylie Minogue. Released via RCA Records, the record arrived into a landscape where big-budget pop was largely ceded to the charts - but the duo presented an alternative: purposeful, sharply tailored, and heavy with melodrama. Critics were divided; some praised the immaculate craft and pop precision, while others questioned the slick veneer and 80s revivalism. Either way, the singles made their mark across Europe - proof that Happiness connected with audiences even as reviewers debated its merits. What remains now is the legacy: a strikingly styled pop statement that took a maximalist, romantic sensibility and found a global audience for it.