Hertfordshire 4-piece The Hunna seem to have come from absolutely out of nowhere in recent months with breakthrough single You & Me having extensive airplay already on radio 1, 4Music and Kerrang and having already sold out numerous shows including one in the Electric Ballroom in London. The anticipation for this, their debut record, is at fever pitch and with slots at Reading and Leeds already built up and a massive tour ready, as well as first single Bonfire already making waves, are the band good enough to back up all of the hype?
For the most part, yes. Opening with first single Bonfire the band waste no time in showing the listener exactly what they are all about. With indie styled alt rock verses leading into a massive and captivating chorus that any band would be proud of.The song shines much better when it truly kicks in with chorus and bridges proving to be the strength of the band.
There is much of the same on the following track, We Could Be. Opening with a riff sounding similar to the glorious days of The Killers, the verse bursts into life with a brilliantly catchy vocal melody before the chorus blows the listener away in a similar style to the previous track but with a lot more life, an area where the band should focus on.
Alive is a track that offers a bit more than others as a bass led into the verse before the chorus again explodes into life and will have crowds bouncing off of the ceiling in live environments and shows that The Hunna truly know how to create an encapsulating chorus with the bridge of the song only exceeding in making them sound yet even bigger again.
Towards the end of the EP is where the band seem to kick on and show what they are truly best at with the sad sounding verse in Brother being countered by a brilliant vocal melody that truly makes you appreciate the song. Following this is where the band truly show their exceptional songwriting ability however with The World Is Ours. Being a more emotionally driven track, the vocals are put on focus they definitely live up to their billing with the chorus of this song especially blowing the listener away but the emotion is what really shines through here, something the band should put more focus on in the songwriting in the future.
The album comes to an end on a much slower and happier number with love ballad Sycamore Tree. This song will have people smiling and singing along up and down the country. A relaxing and enjoyable way to end an emotional album.
Overall, this album shows a lot of potential from a band that are oozing the stuff. Songs such as Alive and We Could Be show the bands tendency to write indie styled alt rock brilliance but the band are at their best when writing emotionally captivating tracks sand when they manage to focus the song writing more on that front, they will be unstoppable.
8/10 – Really good, a lot more to come
Highlight – The World Is Ours