The scion of a County Down folk family, Hanvey was studying sound engineering in Seattle when grunge broke, and these disparate influences give the album a restless, brittle enthusiasm.
He deploys electric and acoustic guitar with decliate menace, sheathing his songs in weird, almost industrial treatments. Chamber-rock is also a clear influence – often the singer seems to deploy everything but the kitchen sink, as he strains towards a classic pop melange. Lyrically, Hanvey travels to some dark places – the psychedelic dirge ‘Everyone’s Happy’ suggests precisely the opposite – yet his song-craft is shot through with a wide-eyed optimism.
You may have already encountered the record’s lead single, ‘Hundred Days Of Snow’, an uplifting swirl of dissonance and sunshine. On radio, it sounds infectiously sweet. Here it is less distinguished – a back-handed commendation that says something for the impressive quality of the rest of the LP.