Possibly a favourite track this season, not for its opening moments alone but for the unexpected skill and intention that increasingly shine light on the moment and indeed the audience.
H2SO4 has crafted a bizarrely beautiful soundtrack for the times with Hey Stupid, one that evolves from simple alternative indie electronica to a string-soaked, multi-layered, orchestral dance realm that’s addictively uplifting.
Fifty seconds in and the soundscape intensifies, heavy fuzz and the weight of bass, distortion and rhythm unite to pierce through the air. Meanwhile that voice continues, addressing you, the masses, the nations who knowingly and seemingly without resolve revolve their existence around money.
Another minute passes and we get a groove, a strong one, brilliant and infectious in its energy and presence. Still the same track, the same two voices contrasting and keeping things hypnotic and poignant.
The shift happens again just prior to the three-minute mark, and this is a near six-minute track, so these stages prove more and more immersive and strangely euphoric as they pour through.
The latter half is sensational, superb production lights up the room, leaving you in a celebration of optimism that’s broadly juxtaposed by the insult and unsettling self-awareness of the lyric.
Not exclusive to the stranger listening, inviting of the family, the self, Hey Stupid feels inescapable in more ways than one. H2SO4 brings us all into the centre of this concept, and holds us captive there with engaging dance details and mighty sound-design. This one is well worth seeing through to the end.
