HANYA

Hanya prove that a dreampop group doesn’t have to be devoid of distortion, drive, and torment with their latest offering ‘Amateur Professional’. The new single from the Brighton 3-piece sees a new era for the group, one where their raucous live show marries up with their hazy recorded sound, to provide a weighty follow-up to last year’s acclaimed 7-track EP ‘100 Metre Sprint’.

Working with co-producer and mix engineer Theo Verney, Hanya have delivered a jaunty, angular single ripe for fans of post-punk darlings Dry Cleaning and Porridge Radio whilst remaining true to their unique shoegaze sensibilities with an essence of Beach House, Sam Evian and Blur. The song’s driving bassline juxtaposed with ethereal vocals reaches giddying heights as the chorus hits to reveal dulcet vocal hooks in a washed-out chorus, whilst the tongue-in-cheek verse lyrics outline the moral gymnastics that creatives must grapple when attempting to make a side-hustle viable in a commercial world that de-values authenticity and vies for our attention.

Hanya had this to say about the upcoming release: “Amateur Professional was written at a time when we felt our most cynical. Trying to remain inspired in this chaos and constantly grappling with self-doubt is something every person experiences, and we wanted to explore that in this world of a ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ mentality. The track is about attempting to be a full-time professional in whatever it is you want, even if you feel like a lousy amateur a lot of the time. It’s a fighting song, for when you’re feeling like giving up.”