The Voice finalists Into The Ark coming to St Albans for concert

Coached and mentored by Sir Tom Jones on the ITV show, Into The Ark will be playing live at The Horn on Wednesday, May 17.

The South Wales duo – Dane Lloyd, 25, and Taylor Jones, 20 – sang, played, performed and battled their way to The Voice runners-up spot behind winner Mo Adeniran.

They will bring their ethereal harmonies and gritty northern soul to The Horn in Victoria Street next month for a sold-out gig as part of a 16-date UK headline tour, before then supporting Sir Tom Jones at some of his summer shows.

After finishing second on The Voice UK, Dane said: “We can’t believe it. We’re so grateful to have the best mentor you could ever have... and we get to go on tour with Tom!”

Taylor added: “Does life get much better than touring with such a great guy and a Welsh legend?”

Sir Tom Jones said: “We’re going to do some shows together. It’s a tour that I’m going on and the [Into The Ark] boys are coming with me. Definitely looking forward to having the guys on board. Can’t wait!”

Hailing from Blackwood in The Valleys, the pair met as teenagers on the live circuit in Wales, bonding over their love of writing and of each other’s taste in music.

After several years of busking as teenagers in Cardiff, the duo bought a beaten up old van in the summer of 2015 to allow them to tour.

They travelled over 60,000 miles around the UK, sleeping in the van, driving from gig to gig, playing over 130 concerts in under a year.

Relentless touring and word of mouth recommendations meant that within eight months they played their own sold-out headline shows at The Social, London, and The Miners Institute in Blackwood.

They also gained invites to support Model Aeroplanes, Paolo Nutini, Eliza & The Bear and Dan Owen, plus appear at festivals Dot To Dot, Live At Leeds, Stag & Dagger and Boardmasters.

In the closing months of 2016, Into The Dark released two indie singles on their own label, Blackwood Records, through Kobalt.

They made a strong impression with debut single My Ghost.

Premiered by Clash, the track was featured on Spotify’s New Music Friday playlists, hit the upper reaches of the Viral 50, featured on Made in Chelsea and was an airplay hit in The Netherlands after being played by national Dutch radio station, Q Music, the equivalent of BBC Radio 1 in the UK.

The boys also released single Brightest Creatures at the end of 2016.

Now they’ve gained further exposure after wowing audiences on the sixth series of The Voice.

Speaking about the experience of being on the hit music show, Dane said: “It’s been amazing working with Tom and we’ve been lucky enough to sit around the piano with him and have one-to-ones.

“It’s been nerve-wracking, of course, with being on the telly, but we try to just treat it like any other show and do what we do best.”

He added: “The first time we met Tom Jones was at Abbey Road and it was totally surreal.

“We got to sing around the piano that The Beatles recorded songs on and couldn’t believe it when we were told it’s insured for £1million.

“I mean us boys from The Bryn and Oakdale accompanied by The Beatles piano. It blew my mind.”

Taylor said: “It’s crazy but you’ve got to keep on plodding on and keep your feet on the ground.

“We just want to keep on singing and performing to people and hopefully we’ll get to do that for years to come.”

It’s been a media whirlwind for the captivating Welsh duo since The Voice.

Speaking about all the attention, Dane said: “Some things we never thought we’d be doing, we’ve already started doing.

“We were on This Morning with Phillip [Schofield] and Holly [Willoughby], and Capital Radio – there’s just been so many amazing things coming about.

“And also thank you very much to everyone who’ve seen us, tweeted us and all the support from everywhere – it’s just amazing.”