What do you get when you cross two Gregorian Chant university majors, a guitar, a synthesizer, and the regular eating of Haggis? You’ll never guess!
Answer: Shockingly, you get the Synth-Pop, New-Wave Dream-Pop flavours of American band hyps. It’s hard to imagine anyone who couldn’t love their new single Best Wishes. This late twenty-something pair of musicians and friends Keena Batti and Molly Falck skillfully craft a familiar and nostalgic warm, 80s synthpop ambiance, updated with dreamy electric guitar lines and more depth to the lyrics than your typical-80s-repetitive-chorus-love song.
Okay, I’m not gonna lie. Best Wishes is a love song. But it’s complicated, which I appreciate; complicated without being angry or selfish or whiny– or just plain without any interesting adjectives. Saturated in sunny synthesizers and carried along by a current of dreamy electric guitars, the song describes the conflicted feelings in the wake of a heartbreak. The title may be offering Best Wishes–yet the refrain sings in harmony “Don’t be happy without me.”
It’s a wonderful description of the conflicting emotions and seemingly opposite impulses in the honeymoon of a new breakup.
This is a Must-Have Breakup Song
Send it to your sister when she needs it. She’ll love you for it.
I can’t end the article without showcasing the stunning vocal harmonies of Batti and Falck. The vocal lead is one perfectly harmonized duo–perfectly, gorgeously, and emotively delivered. It’s the vocal textures and the refreshing flavours of Indie-spiced synthpop that seal the deal for me in this track.
Enjoy!
