Hana Vu - Romanticism

Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers, Olivia Rodrigo. All Los Angeles alt-pop icons who represent an endless well of talent in the West Coast metropolis. Hana Vu is yet another export from the Golden State, back with her second full-length album 'Romanticism'.

Three years since dark and expansive debut 'Public Storage', Hana Vu has taken a step into the light, creating a record that is more coherent in terms of song ideas and content, although it's not a total departure from her first album. Opener 'Look Alive' has the same menacing, cinematic feel as earlier songs like power-puncher 'Anything Striking', with 'Find Me Under Wilted Trees', 'I Draw a Heart', and 'Love' all featuring the vocal layering and DIY college rock, guitar that made her entry into the indie scene so exciting.

Outside of this, it definitely feels like a record on the pop-ier side of indie-pop. Vu channels her fellow LA cohort Olivia Rodrigo on 'How it Goes', while 'Airplane' and 'Play' see her experiment more with drum samplers and digital beats. Her vocal is still the star of the show, though, with the whole LP feeling like a real exorcism of some romantic demons, most clearly in pop-punk-esque break-up anthem '22'.

When you have a voice like Hana Vu's, with all its endearing, tortured agony and unique tone, it's understandable that you want that front and centre. At points, though, the mix between vocal and sonic background feels slightly off-kilter, masking some of the really hammered-out drumming and shredded guitar lines that would just kick the record into a higher gear.

Replacing the gothic, post-punk vibes for more accessible, mainstream tracks, it's still a good indie-pop album, but you can't help but long for slightly less glitter and slightly more grunge.