HUNNY - HUNNY'S NEW PLANET HEAVEN
The children of 90’s shoegaze and 2000’s pop-punk, HUNNY returns with their sophomore album Hunny’s New Planet Heaven released via Epitaph Records. As Epitaph creatives surrounded by emo veterans such as Motion City Soundtrack and La Dispute, HUNNY puts a unique spin on the classic sound popularized by their artistic peers. With angsty guitar tones, regretful lyricism, and those classic whiny vocals that serve as a trademark of any great pop-punk song, it’s impossible for young fans not to take refuge in any music rich with this level of emotion.
Love is a difficult thing to process when you don’t feel deserving of accepting it. Hunny’s New Planet Heaven explores all of this and more as they dive into the complexities of a relationship doomed by anxious attachment. Each love song is riddled with the battle between admiration and insecurity - and the emotion of love is conveyed primarily through the perspective of fear rather than contentment, a theme no stranger to the genres they garner inspiration from.
The record’s opening track ‘bothering’ starts off quiet until eventually kicking us into a crashing chorus, perfectly grabbing our attention and maintaining it as we sink into the comfortable instrumentation. While ‘bothering’ displays a sound unique to HUNNY, the second track ‘sixteen stitches’ clearly takes influence from the classic pop-punk sound of the 2000s, fused interestingly with synths and guitar tones popularized through 2010’s indie-rock - leaving us with a result that is overall nostalgic, accessorized by HUNNY’s quintessential sonic spin.
The all-lowercase, text-tone style of track titling indicates a younger perspective that may have been adopted by the musicians as they created the project. Although each song was obviously developed entirely by adults, angsty music tends to cater to the immature tendencies that we all experience every now and then. Whether you’re experiencing a relationship through an insecure lens or consistently focusing on the negative that surrounds you - pop-punk has a tendency to appeal to our most vulnerable and adolescent thoughts.
The lead single and third track on the record, ‘action—>reaction’ is the perfect representation of both the musical and lyrical themes that find themselves present throughout the project. The guitar riffs feel longing and hopeless, and the vocals are angsty and whiny, with lyrics roaring with the fear that the person you love most with eventually run away, latching onto the good with all of the strength that you have.
The album’s seventh track ‘ring in ur ear’ features vocals from the legendary Justin Courtney Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack. Epitaph label-mate and iconic emo trailblazer, his musical influence is clear not only in this high-energy track but throughout the entire record. Motion City Soundtrack challenged the emo genre through a pop-inspired lens, while still remaining true to pop-punk’s traditional principles. Although the lyrics are emotionally rich, the melody feels danceable, upbeat, and light - a phenomenon commonly explored through Motion City Soundtrack’s era of indie-rock.
‘all my luck’ brings a more modern sonic perspective that many of the other tracks on Hunny’s New Planet Heaven don’t convey. As bright, sweet, and simple synths drive the melody - this track feels more reminiscent of modern indie-pop bands such as Wallows or Bad Suns rather than more traditional indie-rock bands like The Frights. HUNNY’s consistent ability to garner influence from such a wide array of sub-genres while still maintaining a sound that feels unique to them proves their complexities as an indie-rock band that can exist entirely within their own entity.
The perfect closing track for this transformative album, ‘palm reader’ flawlessly wraps up Hunny’s New Planet Heaven in a bow. The soft intro crashes into a captivating yet hopeful melody, leaving us feeling like we’re watching the credits roll at the end of a mind-altering film. While most of the tracks on this record exude anxiety-induced undertones with deep guitar tones and dark vocal inflections, this song feels like an acceptance of what cannot be changed. The hopeful and content melodic energy looming underneath the surface gives us closure on the journey that we all go through as we listen to this record.
Hunny’s New Planet Heaven is proof of HUNNY’s longevity as an artist within their own entity. With melodies ranging anywhere from emo-infused to 90’s rock-esque to new wave/synth-heavy, and lyrics that take listeners on a journey we’ve never been on before, HUNNY’s sophomore album solidifies their placement as indie-rock visionaries - showcasing to everyone that they are here to stay.
Emily Gottlieb
★★★★☆