Description
“Designed to drive an audience to dance, the music of Superhuman Happiness is a loose, spontaneous alternative to the rigidity of computer-generated electronic dance music.” – WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Their music joins buoyant call-and-response harmonies, rippling highlife-inspired guitar leads, !!!’s muscular funk-punk, and the spirited pulses of Steve Reich’s Clapping Music” – SPIN
“One of the best party records of the year!” – MAGNET
“While Superhuman Happiness live shows have already become something of legend throughout Brooklyn, Hands is likely to establish the band as one of the best rising acts to listeners far and wide.” – RELIX
Movement becomes contagious listening to Superhuman Happiness’ first full-length album, Hands. The relentlessly creative band whose sound has been dubbed “physical cinematic dance rock” has crafted an LP that runs the gamut from celebratory syncopated handclaps (“Our Favorite Part”) to the coronation grandeur of church bells (“Second Heart”), from art-pop dance beats (“See Me On My Way”) to math rock angularity (“Half Step Grind”). The lyrics to Superhuman Happiness songs come at you in a flurry of pop sensibility but lean metaphysical, peppered amid the vastness of cinematic layers of instrumentation. Guitarists Luke O’Malley and Ryan Ferreira trade highlife picking and revving power chords as Nikhil Yerawadekar’s ropey bass lines weave and bob through the pulsing beats issued from Miles Arntzen’s drum kit. Waves of sound issue from Jared Samuel‘s array of analog keyboards and lush accents from Eric Biondo‘s playful harmonies. Stuart Bogie’s horns, abetted by long-time collaborator Colin Stetson, round out Hands’ multi-dimensional sound.
Superhuman Happiness became known in Brooklyn for ecstatic dance parties at the famed club Zebulon where they’d often improvise extended versions of their songs. The band’s reputation further grew upon touring nationally with artists like Rubblebucket, Marco Benevento and Red Baraat. Prior to Hands, Superhuman Happiness released an EP and a series of 7-inch singles. They wrote and performed the original motion picture score to the Academy Award-nominated documentary film How To Survive A Plague, with the accompaniment of Kronos Quartet. Other highlights include collaborating with Cults on the Red, Hot & Rio 2 compilation. Its members are all key NYC players with a collective resume that stretches across a dizzying array of talent, including Antibalas, Phenomenal Handclap Band, TV On The Radio, Iron & Wine, tUnE-yArDs and Martha Wainwright among numerous others. It’s together, however, where their individual voices coalesce into one shared vision. As Hands so eloquently expresses, this is music striving for Superhuman Happiness.
