If I had to pick a favourite new band of 2024 the award would go to Cardiff based Half Happy. A band whose trajectory over the last eighteen months or so has been an absolute joy to watch. For those who have yet to be introduced to Half Happy please carve out time from your busy schedule and allow yourself to be swept off your feet by this wonderful band.
Half Happy are Rosalie Miller (vocals), Pete Smith (guitar), Jon Wilson (bass), and Zac Nonely (bass). They first started gaining attention towards the end of 2022 with the single Love Sweep which instantly saw the band gain attention and fans including Adam Walton on Radio Wales who has been consistently singing their praises and rightfully so. They also gained further recognition through being awarded the Welsh Music Prize’s Triskell Award 2023. Since then they have been played a number of times on Radio Wales, interviews with Huw Stephens, supported Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard in Fuel (cardiff) at the start of the year and recently another support slot on a larger stage in Tramshed (Cardiff) supporting Camera Obscura. I was lucky enough to be at both those gigs and I can honestly say that transition from small venue to a larger stage has been seamless. This is a band who deserve a big stage and the love from the masses.
That love is only going to continue to grow now their debut EP Conversation Killer is out in the world. This EP is a collection of 5 songs that will grab your attention from the start, and you will find yourself falling deeply in love with every single sound you hear. The EP opens with Sorry, a song that allows all your troubles to drift away, a song that sends you into a dreamlike state from which you might not want to return from. I love the honesty in the lyrics. Listening to Sorry and other Half Happy songs Rosalie comes across as a lyricist who does not shy away from pouring her emotions into these songs “Worrying to worry / My favourite word is sorry”. If ever you have felt anxious, felt slightly out of place in social situations, Sorry is a song that you will be able to relate to and in so doing let you know you are not on your own.
Well Done Honey is a song that captures those feelings we all have about having a bad day in work, thinking there has to be more to life than the daily grind, looking for escapism and selling our soul for big companies to make obscene amounts of money at the expense of the workforce.
“Feeling so stupid in a room / Full of holders of the future I desire / I will jump when you say higher / You treat them mean to keep them keen / But boy I’m running out of steam / I need to fill up my own cup”
With songs as good as this, hopefully it will only be a matter of time before Half Happy can give up the day jobs.
Bloom is a mesmerizing pop song, the synths will lift your mood, the arrangements are sublime. The way the song weaves from spoken word, drums, angelic vocals, synths, and rhythms all provide evidence to the argument that Half Happy are the greatest new pop band around right now. Seriously, call your friend now and tell them all about your new love for Half Happy. Better than that tell a stranger you bump into in the street, tell the person you buy your coffee from that if they only do one thing with their day it is to spend time listening to Half Happy.
If you are listening to the EP in order which, let's face it, why wouldn’t you then you will be about to hear the sweet, dreamy melodies of Up in Daisies. Seriously how great how these melodies? Close your eyes, think of a happy place, or better than that you don’t have to think very hard because these are melodies that will instantly transport you to a world full of joy. As for the lyrics once again we see Rosalie pondering how part of living is about making mistakes “We all make mistakes / God knows I’ve made mine / You can’t just hide in the sun / Like nothings gone on”. That lyric should be added to the school syllabus, teach kids it is ok to make mistakes and when we do, be honest about the mistakes and don’t hide from them.
Slow Down ends the EP with confidence and a reminder that this is an EP and a band you will not forget in a hurry. Half Happy are a band, but more important than that they are a group of friends and that friendship, that closeness comes across in Slow Down and throughout the whole EP. These are musicians who know exactly what each band member is going to do, four people who love being in each other's company and it is that closeness, that understanding of each other that has enabled them to record what is without a doubt the EP of 2024.
Conversation Killer is out now on vinyl or digital download, there are also some live dates left before the end of the year including SWN festival and a December headline show in Clwb Ifor Bach. Please do yourself a favour, get to see them now as this could well be your last chance to see them in smaller venues. This is a band who are going to continue to gain fans and hopefully take over the world.
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