HARD OF HEARING WRITERS OPEN UP ABOUT THE BANDS AND RECORDS THEY LOVE. THIS TIME, MELISSA SVENSEN EXPLORES HER LOVE FOR LIVERPOOL DUO HER’S AND THEIR RECORD ‘Invitation To Her’s’.
Just two weeks after stealing hearts at SXSW, on route to tour 2018’s Invitation To Her’s around North America, Liverpool duo Her’s – Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading – and their tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson – tragically passed away.
Stephen and Audun undoubtedly touched many lives. Personally, of course, with those close to them (or those who had brief but impactful meetings) flooding the internet with tributes of how genuinely kind they were; but also those who simply knew them through their music.
What is it about Her’s’ music that, in just four active years, that had so many so completely transfixed? Naturally, it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly, and my version of what Her’s meant may well be drastically different to everyone else’s but I’m going to try.
Her’s, for me, represented a dose of much-needed cheeriness. From the get go, with debut release Dorothy in 2016, Her’s were in equal parts candidly emotional and unapologetically jangly – a combination which, in varying incarnations, they retained until their most recent release, Invitation To Her’s. They offered a light-heartedness – a raw, danceable, brand of pop. Something that was, for all its musicality and emotion, fun. And they came at a time when everyone needed a bit of fun.
Invitation To Her’s oozed joy and heartbreak in perfectly measured doses. It was, fittingly, incredibly inviting, and for those who hadn’t yet come across Her’s, the perfect introduction.
Yet while there was a definite sweetness to Her’s – an unbridled sense of romanticism – it’s coupled with a matter-of-factness that only makes it more addictive. Her’s never once depended on lengthy metaphors or excessively poetic waffle to get their emotion across, and nor did they need to. Rather, they were an unstoppably sharp and oh so charming.
Whatever the reason, Her’s certainly made an impact and will live on through their music and the many lives they touched.
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Wych Elm – ‘1983’ – A dizzying flood of alt-rock emotion.
Terravī – ‘Sheep‘ – A hypnotic, drone-like state of euphoria.
deathcrash – ‘Slumber’ – A sprawling post-rock beast soaked in pent-up emotion.
By Melissa Svensen
hardofhearingmagazine.com 