London trio Happyness have not long dropped their new album ‘Write In’; the follow up to the much-loved ‘Weird Little Birthday’. Benji Compston explains how the record came into being.
How would you describe ‘Write In’’s vibe?
Kids-walking-around-in-their-mum’s-heels-and-having-the-best-time.
Or
Mostly-on-piano-and-guitar.
Was it a fun album to create?
It was, and it wasn’t. There’s nothing like the thrill of making something that makes sense to you. But we had lots of ups and downs making this record – Benji had major surgery in the middle of making the album, and so there was this weirdly fragmented period when things were touch and go, but the times we captured on record and the songs that made the cut are the ones that we felt particularly moved or excited by – if that makes sense. We had to slightly cut and paste the positive moments and patch them together.
In what ways do you feel this release is a step up for Happyness?
It’s kind of hard to answer that before the record’s out and people have had a chance to live with it for a while – so I’m sure we’ll have a completely different answer in six months time. But I think this record feels like a collection of more complete ideas than ‘Weird Little Birthday’. We wanted to make a record where each song completed itself, rather than necessarily needing the whole album as context. We got really into Randy Newman…
Were you at all influenced by ‘world events’ or ‘the state of things’ during its creation?
Weirdly I think ‘the state of things’ being the way they are contributed to it being a more optimistic album. I think we really needed to find the positive in all this fucking idiocy.
What are the major themes across the album?
Terry Gilliam’s Brazil-esque bureaucracy and writing letters.
Is there anything in particular on the release that you hope will resonate with listeners?
We once had a plastic surgeon say that they wanted to listen to our music while performing surgery – we hope that’s fully realised on this one.
What’s your favourite song on the album?
For me, it’s probably ‘The C is a BAG’ or ‘Through Windows’. ‘Through Windows’ was the first song we wrote for this album and definitely hits a special spot for us – it started as a piano/guitar improvisation one afternoon and went from there.
Do you have big plans for the rest of 2017? What’re you up to this year?
So we’ve just finished SXSW and will be in the US for the next couple of weeks. We’re touring pretty much non-stop now until the middle of June – kind of bouncing between Europe and the U.S. We’re also launching a new beach range of merchandise ready for the English summer.
Happyness aside, what are you most looking forward to right now?
Hall & Oates are playing in New York a day after our show there in June, and we’re going – so that.
Finally – recommend us some new bands?
Hovvdy from Austin, Texas. These guys are sweethearts.
Happyness’ album ‘Write In’ is out now.