HUNNY’S new planet heaven is only the band’s second full-length album, the release of which they celebrated by purchasing a literal star and naming it after the album. The album has been fully written by the four members: lead vocalist and guitarist Jason Yarger, backup vocalist and keyboardist Kevin Grimmett, guitarist Jake Goldstein and drummer Joey Anderson. They have been making music together since 2014 – which is their biggest asset on this album, as their years of friendship and comfort with one another shine through throughout the project.
The album starts off with ‘bothering’’s plink-plonking guitar intro, which immediately sets the tone for an album that is mostly quirky and should not be taken too seriously. The first verse has a slower, vintage sound to it, before diving into an upbeat instrumental break. “It’s not bothering me if it’s not bothering you” Yarger sings, making it clear that this song is about letting go of things that are not very relevant nor important.
Next up is the catchy guitar and drums intro of ‘sixteen stitches’, a song that speaks of bad luck and things not going your way before heading to an instrumental outro. It is followed by three of the previously released singles.
‘action –> reaction’ feels like 2000s indie rock and states that “every action has a reaction”. It seems as if Yager is singing to someone who has been hurt in the past and can’t let go of this hurt. The singer wants to help, but can’t fix what has been done to them. The song exits with the cry of a synth and transitions into ‘big star’. This is another catchy little track with very clear vocals, but an unclear meaning. It could be interpreted as a song about bad habits, with Yager singing “don’t stay in your old ways”. Nonetheless, it’s one of the stand-outs on this first half of the album instrumentally. So is ‘89cc’, which features a saxophone solo right at the end of the track.
Next up is by far the slowest song on the album, ‘my own age’. It’s a mostly instrumental track that feels more like an interlude than anything else. It marks the beginning of the nostalgic part of the album, with Yager stating that he’s glad he has grown older and looking back on where he’s come from. ‘ring in ur ear’ features more literal nostalgia – “remember the summer when you bleached my hair?”. It looks back to the beginning of a friendship and it’s quite a typical emo pop song about belonging with the other outsiders. It’s by far the loudest track on the album and stands out as the best as well. The collaboration with pop-punk band Motion City Soundtrack was most definitely a good idea.
‘solo’ was already a single as well and can best be described as “typical indie rock perfection”. It seems to be a catchy love song about just wanting to do what makes the other person happy and not wanting to “leave them solo”. The outro exists of some acoustic guitar before transitioning into ‘nothing amazing happens’, a track that smoothly follows the indie rock trend. It is the shortest song on this album and might be seen as social commentary, with Yager mentioning – and screaming – class division, but the meaning is furthermore unclear.
‘all my luck’ is another love song, but much cuter. It opens with slow, dreamy guitar-playing before growing into a catchy little number. The keyboard is most prominent on this sweet song. The singer states that he’s lucky to be with his partner and happy to wake up next to them each morning. This is also the first song to make a nod to the album’s supposed planetary theme, mentioning “Rings of Saturn”. The only other songs that do so are the album’s final one, ‘palm reader’ – which is also another love song, and ‘kick ur teeth in’, which stands out as a heavier indie rock song that features cymbals and the keyboard yet again in between the two love songs. It is not entirely clear what the song is about, but it seems to be about a person that tends to seek out meaning in things that do not have any connection at all. As a whole, new planet heaven is a collection of 13 typical emo pop mixed with indie rock and gen Z appeal.
While a very fun and catchy album, it lacks a little in its lyrical stylization and overall length. The songs are great to jam out to while hanging with some friends, but lack some depth and thematization – which one might have expected from an album for which a star was bought. There are some mentions of astrology and astronomy on tracks like ‘palm reader’, but overall, they could have taken it a step further in terms of creating an album that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Written by: Mandy Huibregtsen
Edited by: Lee Klaver
