Happiness

The loudest and most successful pop debut this year

The Internet has literarily exploded this May when people heard Wonderful Life, the first hit from the British pop duo Hurts, and its successful Arthur Baker’s remix. The composition could be heard on all the world’s dance floors in summer, and Hurts became the most discussed band in social networks and blogs. Charismatic guys from Manchester, vocalist Theo Hutchcraft, a possessor of voice with impressive potentials, and synthesizer player Adam Anderson have become a subject of adoration for millions of European girls in no time. The first official single Better Than Love is not enjoying the same popularity as Wonderful Life for now but together with 9 other tracks will become favorite songs of really many people in the nearest future. The thing is that the guys are finally releasing their debut album Happiness which is sure to become the loudest and most successful pop debut of this year. Danceable compositions, whose remixes we are probably going to hear later, and stylish ballads are full of emotions and will leave nobody indifferent, and Happiness is awaiting a breathtaking success for sure.

The material on Happiness is thoroughly thought

Although the album does not contain the song Happiness – it has only been released for digital download as an independent single – the entire material here is thoroughly thought, there is no failure track on the album, and it is quite an undertaking to choose the best one from them. They are all based on a simple scheme – a soft, most often slower verse and a vivid, louder and memorable chorus. The album opens with a splendid mid-tempo song Silver Lining with a minor worrisome atmosphere, strengthened by means of a male choral at the end. Its lyrics as well as those of all the following tracks are endlessly romantic: the protagonist promises his beloved woman to protect her from any misfortune. The single Wonderful Life is certainly one of the album’s leading moments, its chorus is very easy to memorize and hard to forget, it is a real hit with all the necessary components. A very beautiful ballad Blood, Tears & Gold tells that even offense and breakup cannot make one stop loving, and the track Sunday is all a house-beat, a stylish arrangement with orchestra effects, a complicated tune and the text about longing for the lover. The same theme but in a more emotional form has become the basis of another highlight ballad Stay, a splendid monumental number with choir backing vocals and a catchy tune. The number Illuminated starts with harmonious keyboard chords; it is built on a great mid-tempo beat and conquers with the high notes in vocals. The single Better Than Love is another danceable track with a catchy chorus Unspoken is an example of Theo’s most emotional singing and a wonderfully beautiful arrangement. The record closes with the slowest composition The Water with philosophic lyrics; it contains a hidden track Verona after which no doubt is left concerning Theo’s talent as a vocalist.

Hurts’ music surprises, hypnotizes, worries

The music of Hurts is so new and so absolutely traditional at the same time that it is difficult to say at once what exactly makes one admire. Splendid tunes, performed by Theo’s faultless vocals, the arrangements refined with unexpected hooks, emotions – mainly love, of course, – or the wonderfully wise lyrics? Or may be, it is the sincerity combined with a slight vulnerability and an unobtrusive shade of sadness in the very image of the two nuggets? Whatever that is, the album Happiness is a collection of amazing music and as soon as it is over you will definitely want to listen to it again and again. Each track on the record has a chorus which surprises, hypnotizes, worries – it is pop music but it can be by no means called silly or shallow. One can often come across metaphors, allusions to popular wisdom, deep thoughts in these texts but they still remain simple, understandable, and ingenuous. On the whole, it will be very sad if Hurt’s story ends with this record for after such a marvelous debut work the duo is simply ought to keep on moving forward in this direction.