Music
Latest album: 'Embers'When Happy Little Clouds sophomore album 'Embers' dropped, the path that led to that moment tells a poignant story of reflection, assessment and awakening. When the band took the stage at The Burren in Somerville the following night, alongside theatrical glam superstars Eddie Japan, there was a sense of cathartic release, one building inside founder Jac Mestel since the release of the band’s debut album, Shift, nearly a decade ago.
A lot has changed since then: for Mestel (they/them), the multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and lyricist who has since come out as trans; for the band, now completed by bassist Derek Bergstrom (he/him) and drummer and percussionist Jess Townsend (she/her); and for the world in which Happy Little Clouds reside with a sense of defiance and pride. Their collective experience has shaped these nine tracks on Embers, and the stories contained within, packed tightly in the band’s eclectic, melodic, and soulful post-grunge sound, offer an invitation to seek refuge, find allyship, and attempt, both collectively and individually, to make sense of an insane world. The record’s title derives from a lyric in new single “Liar Fire” – “All my body curls like embers / Up or down I’m forced to choose” – a white-hot blast of ‘70s arena-rock ambition that sets a striking tone for an album packed with definable moments. “We really liked the symbolism of embers because it represents an intense, ephemeral light – like life,” the band states. “While an ember burns you can’t tell which way it’s going to drift. In the song, it represents a panicked moment where you are at a crossroads in life. You either choose to give into your fear or move toward love.” |
|
