“Plus, Rob’s a big fan of Benny’s, so hopefully we’ll all get to work a lot more closely.” A source close to Thomas says the singer was “flattered” by the tribute.Īlthough the Rixton song’s similarity to “Lonely No More” has prompted some criticism online, it hasn’t hurt it at radio. The band’s talents for both songwriting and re-creation come together on “Me and My Broken Heart,” which features an interpolation of Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas’ 2005 solo smash “Lonely No More.” “We’ve been a huge fan of his, so we took a lot of inspiration from him and wanted to give him a tip of the hat,” says Roche. They could re-create any song you threw at them.” They could pick up any instrument and just play. “They played me stuff they had written, and it was really good,” says Braun. Rixton had gained a following on YouTube for its covers of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” and Usher’s “Numb,” but Braun was as impressed by the act’s originals. He called back, and the band invited him to one of its private “flat gigs,” where the group plays acoustically at friends’ apartments – including that of Nathan Sykes of The Wanted, another Braun client, who recommended the group to him. “It was Scooter, and he was like, ‘I’ve seen you guys, watched all your videos on YouTube.’ I thought someone was playing a prank on me.”īut Braun was serious, and he was flying to London the following day on a business trip.
I could feel my phone bill melt into my hands,” recalls Roche, 21. “We were in the studio in London, and I got this call from an American phone number. The song is the title track from Rixton’s debut EP, which was released by Braun’s Schoolboy and Blanco’s Little Big Man imprints through Interscope on March 18 and also features “Hotel Ceiling,” written by Ed Sheeran.īut the first time Rixton lead singer Jake Roche got a call from Braun - the supermanager behind Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen and others - he hung up. It’s sold 93,000 to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 26, the song rises 65-55. The British pop-rock band is managed by Scooter Braun, and is climbing the charts with “Me and My Broken Heart,” which is produced by Benny Blanco (Katy Perry, Rihanna) and features a writing credit from Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas (more on that later). You may not know Rixton, but you’re probably familiar with the big names behind it.