hurts - happiness (8/10)
hurts is a new british synthpop band who released their debut album ‘happiness’ this september. strangely enough the title track did not make it onto the actual album (which reminds me of omd and their beloved ‘sugar tax’ album) but other than that i am happy to report that this is one of my favourite musical gems of the year. here is my first ever track-by-track review:
1 silver lining : its a great opener with very crisp production and the actual song doesn’t start for more than a minute. (8/10)
2 wonderful life : this was the first single and i probably have heard this one a few times to often. its a good song but sounds a little out of place here. don’t ever listen to the dreadful kylie minogue cover version (7/10)
3 blood tears & gold : its an ok-ish song but halfway through it almost seems as if they were running out of words to sing. (6/10)
4 sunday : an upbeat song with not quite so upbeat lyrics. i really like those. (7/10)
5 stay : a slow song with a cute background choir. interesting production (7/10)
6 illuminated : this one is nice but also a bit boring. one of the weaker tracks of the album (5/10)
7 evelyn : weirdly i love the verses but not really a big fan of the chorus. (6/10)
8 better than love : second single ‘better than love’ delivers and is still as catchy as ever. (8/10)
9 devotion : perfection. (10/10)
10 unspoken : this track may seem a bit boring and generic at first but certainly grows on you over time (6/10)
11 water : my second favourite track of the album with a really haunting vibe to it. (9/10)
