by Chris Hatch

Happyness have long filled the role of some mythical, hidden gem that you would have caught supporting Astrid at a tiny venue in 2001, and subsequently become completely obsessed with. Their dreamy, doe-eyed lo-fi was enough to enamour them to those who came across debut album, Weird Little Birthday, garnering comparisons to the likes of Sparklehorse, Pavement, and pretty much every other 90s DIY, alt band in between. And while latest album, Floatr, glimmers with the subdued charm of their earlier work, and in places still has the unexpected sparkle of something you’d find on a friend-of-friend’s late 90s MiniDisc compilation or Fierce Panda album sampler, it’s an altogether bigger beast. With all this in mind, it’s worth stating early on – Floatr is their best work yet.

Happyness followed up their debut LP with 2017’s Write In – an album that saw the three piece not quite push their sonic boundaries, but give them a gentle nudge; their sound given a little more space in the mix, and their songwriting trading wry playfulness for a subtle maturity. Three years on from their last full release, Happyness have ostensibly become a two-piece – Benji Compston parted ways to leave original members Jonny Allan and Ash Kenazi as the core of the band. While Allan and Kenazi (who in 2019 developed a drag queen alter-ego) co-front the band, they are backed by a live band that comprises ex-Yuck guitarist, Max Bloom, among others.

Floatr feels like Happyness’s shot for the moon. The clever, playful lo-fi of their first handful of records has been sharpened to a point. On the likes of singles, Vegetable and Ouch (yup), the bit is firmly between their teeth; the former is a strident, quiet-loud Pixies chug, while the latter is an infectiously bubbly shot of Teenage Fanclub-style guitar pop. The release of these two singles in early 2020 might have led observers to think Happyness had abandoned all sense of nuance and dove head first into making an all out alt-rock record, (which would have been no bad thing), but instead Floatr is chock full of genre-fluid ideas and joyfully surprising dynamics.

Opening song, Title Track, begins in familiarly soporific territory for Happyness – its soft, acoustic lilt sounding the most akin to the band’s previous work than anything else on the record, but it’s clear that Happyness have thrown off the shackles of old. Previous album, Write In, often threatened to burst out of its shell without ever really doing so, this time the band don’t hold back, as they slowly ascend towards the dizzying, cinematic rock of Spiritualized and The Flaming Lips in a clamour of climbing guitars and panoramic strings. Elsewhere, the mid-90s, Beck-meets-Eels, indie rock strut of Milk Float hammers home the point that this album finds Happyness at both their most experimental and their most adept, while album closer, Seeing Eye Dog, captures the unconventional, yearning, scuzzy pop of Malkmus and Dinosaur Jr at their most melancholic – a track that dreamily melts away in one of the most beautifully analgesic outros we’ve heard in a while.

Without labouring an earlier point, Floatr is an absolute triumph. Happyness have shed the not-quite-trying affectations of old and thrown themselves into their latest album with everything they have. To pull this off without compromising their integrity, or losing the charm that endeared them to fans of their early work is as rewarding as it is well-deserved. Floatr is one of those rare records that wears its influences on its sleeve, without ever becoming suffocated by them. Nostalgic, fresh, experimental, catchy, and uniquely brilliant.

Secret Meeting score: 87

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