Esteemed creative composer and producer hoonoos allows the late-night fluidity and escapism of electronic music reign supreme, throughout a full-length album of exhilarating original dance and electro-pop tracks that are naturally elating.
As an introduction to hoonoos and the Still Here album, Vanguard is an instant highlight and remains a favourite from the project. There’s something about the simplicity of this riff-led house arrangement, the depth of the sonic field, the consistency and comfort of the rhythms and synths, that lets the instrumental purity of the track fully consume you.
After this, WDYG takes on a certain darkness and vocal capture that’s a little more EDM-infused but also mellow and alluring. It’s an eclectic shift, and this meandering through traits of dance and pop music’s history is key to the Still Here sentimental core.
Consider Change, now promising a euphoric eighties synthpop groove, with a vibrant kick drum and male vocals offering short lines throughout a mellow pop arrangement and song. After this, Salt Air Glow leans further still towards the electro-pop realm, with quirky riffs and simple melodic lifts accompanying a humble tempo and playful eighties tone. The voices have that modern recognisable trait, but the stories and creative structuring lets hoonoos capture a sense of character that holds tightly throughout the album.
Eleven original tracks make up the eclectic album Still Here, and as a final highlight, the celebratory brightness of Hold Me marks an emotional peak. The beat is notably creative, a kind of stop-start engaging layout, and the programmed voice is breathy and intimate, the lyrics equally private and personal, building slowly towards a softly uplifting peak. This closing track, whilst distinct in itself, again utilises a likable balancing of riffs, rhythms and warming basslines, to fully envelop the listener in the cascading sounds and implications of the song.
That is the essence of the hoonoos creative approach, it seems – to create an all-consuming soundscape of moments both rhythmically soothing and conceptually heartfelt for that genuine, evocative connection.
Find out more via hoonoos.com.
