Harmony With Hunter – Different Kind of Strong
Harmony With Hunter (HWH) started like many current projects… COVID. We all became rather resourceful during the pandemic, especially musicians. Whether you mailed your tracks back and forth through the mail like The Postal Service, hosted live Zoom sessions to collaborate, or finally wrote that solo EP you’d been talking about forever, songwriters found a way to keep creating. Hunter is no exception – with no safe way to collaborate with others, Hunter embraced the forced lockdown and learned how to loop. He studied and perfected the art of looping until he became a one man act – even going as far as to learn how to record and mix his music and make his own music videos. We’re a few years removed from COVID now, but Hunter has finally dropped an uncompromising album, the 11-song Different Kind of Strong.
“Easy Answers” kicks off the album with the hallmarks of HWH’s sound. It’s clear that the weapon of choice here is the violin – Hunter’s got a stranglehold on this instrument and uses it to great effect. After the tinkling of a jaunty, hi-hat beat kicks in, Hunter starts hammering the violin with tight strums that could mimic any indie rock guitar lick. His voice is rich, ranging anywhere from a powerful chest bellow, to a tenor-ish howl, to gentle falsetto ah-ahs. “Easy Answers” is one of those archetypal “searching for something more” songs and the drama of the violin here certainly ramps up that feeling of longing:
“Sometimes we all feel that desire to simplify and look for only the easy answers
But those lies never hold up in the light
Because life isn’t easy, and easy isn’t always right”
Lead single “Invisible” smacks with the same energy as P!nk’s iconic #1 hit “So What.” A bratty, bombastic beat pushes this song forward as a rhythmic chant-like melody fills your speakers. Hunter even turns on the grit for this song, laying on a little bit of rasp to really take this empowering message to the next level. The violin still whispers throughout “Invisible,” but the brunt of the track is bolstered by grumbling guitars and thudding bass. Hunter is no one-trick-pony, but the anthemic, four-chord nature of most these songs make it easy to imagine them in a different light – being looped in a live setting.
Something refreshing about Different Kind of Strong is how straightforward these songs feel. This isn’t the elusive, ethereal album that is going to hypnotize music snobs looking for the next big enigma; instead, Hunter’s written a batch of songs that feel hearty, relatable, and pop-oriented. I wouldn’t hesitate to call this a pop-rock record. “All I Needed” hits with tasty ’90s energy – a falsetto screech kicks off each chorus, cutting through the mix with goosebump-inducing intensity. “The Other” starts with a “Tom’s Diner”-esque chant before launching into a an epicly crunchy, guitar-forward intro, never losing the motif melody that kicks the song off. Our nod for album favorite goes to title-track “Different Kind of Strong,” which could have been a Gavin DeGraw or Bruno Mars song in another life. Bouncy, staccato strings elevate the instrumental as the acoustic guitar plays a chord progression that pulls your ear in the most delightful way. There’s even a blistering guitar solo for all the shredders in our audience. I’m gonna pay Hunter a sincere compliment – my mom would love this song. See the empowering message below:
“I may stumble, I may fall, I may slow down to a crawl
But I’m right where I belong, I’m just a different kind of strong”
Even when Hunter is experimenting with more theatric sounds, he never loses his focus. The orchestral “Robot Boy and the Star” could be a number in a musical. Lacking percussion (but tastefully so), it’s driven solely by strings and tells a powerful narrative about, what else, a robot boy. This album is full of string flavor for sure, and without making a heavy-handed comparison to a band like Yellowcard, Hunter never gets carried away with his instrument of choice. Instead, the strings here feel like an added flavor, something that sets his music apart from the pack without ever feeling like a caricature of itself.
There’s lots more to dig through on Different Kind of Strong. You can find lots of ways to listen to HWH – start with the Bandcamp embed below, then, check all the rest out via this very convenient Linktree link.
Categorised in: Album Reviews
This post was written by Nick Sessanna