Review - "Romanticism" by Hana Vu
A very full record with plenty to keep the listener hooked, Hana Vu's most recent outing is a gritty and fascinating take on an overdone genre.
“And I called the doctor and I said my heart is wrong,
And I called the pastor and I said I can't go on…”
Possibly the most ubiquitous and overdone trope in modern music is the sad girl/sad boy indie singer-songwriter. Such artists have flooded the indie rock markets and are a dime a dozen, in my opinion. It’s all becoming a vast beige painting that I’m just not buying anymore. There have been a few artists that have really caught my attention from the mix - Phoebe Bridgers, Charli Adams, Julien Baker to name a few - but most of what I’ve heard is wildly forgettable. What this genre really lacks is diversity of style. It’s largely just a sea of acoustic guitars and whimsically sad lyrics that all sound like copycats of each other. Where’s the experimentation? The pushing of the envelope? The artistic expression? Frankly, I’m getting bored of it.
But then there’s Hana Vu. Hana Vu is only 24 years old, but she’s outdoing all of her peers, taking the mold of the sad indie songwriter and adding a texture to it that breaks from the blandness that’s all too common. What she’s doing is something that’s reminiscent of a grittier, louder Lucy Dacus (and Lucy already does the gritty and loud part very well). Romanticism is Vu’s most recent outing, and the first of hers that I was introduced to. It’s a sprawling, rough, and aggressive interpretation of a tired trope that hits hard. Frankly, I’m surprised this record hasn’t gotten more press!
While the record has moments that feel typical to the sad indie mold, such as on the acoustic and melancholy “How It Goes” and “I Draw a Heart,” it tends more towards heavily distorted guitars running the show as on “Dreams” and “Find Me Under Wilted Trees,” the latter of which progressively builds into a noisy yet masterfully mixed alt-rock piece. That track is followed by the much cleaner and clearer “Airplane” which demonstrates that Vu knows how to work a guitar across different timbres and tones and do it well. And that’s what makes Romanticism great - it’s got the diversity and experimentation that none of the other acts do. It’s got calm acoustic tracks and loud almost angry guitar-and-percussion-driven alt-rock pieces. There’s a lot to unpack on the record and it feels very full without being bloated, but beyond the incredible-yet-subtle artistic flexibility, it’s worth pointing out that the songs are very good. Take for instance “Hammer,” easily the best track on the record. It’s got a swelling chorus that isn’t necessarily catchy but acts as a powerful hook for the whole record. It begs to not just be sung, but screamed. She pulls this off again and again throughout the record (see also “Play” which follows the same energy).
If you follow other publications or lists, you’re not likely to see Romanticism on any lists of best of 2024. Hana Vu is still fairly undiscovered, but this record is worth hearing this year. As of my writing this, it’s sitting at my number three spot for best records of 2024 (list to follow in January). As the year winds down, I wanted to get one final review in of a record I hadn’t yet touched on that was worth talking about - this was easily the one I knew I needed to write about to finish off the year. Let that be an indicator of how much I enjoy the record because I really can’t recommend it enough, especially if you want a heavy-hitting, driving alt-rock record that’s disguised as an indie songwriter outing. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Overall Rating: 8.2/10
Top Tracks:
- Look Alive
- Hammer
- 22