Young Hunting feeling too much in the complex pop of "Every Living Thing" from the upcoming album "True Believers"

The song Every Living Thing from L.A. based Young Hunting disarms you right away, at least it did me. It, in fact, stunned me and gave me goosebumps. From the onset it sounds so goddamn beautiful and tender with an almost 60's kind of Western pop sound. The organ sounds grabbed me, as did the gentle vocal performance. It felt like a slow dance and then surprisingly the cadence and tone shift into this smart, charming kind of dreamy pop song, the words still smiling and the song still shining like bright eyed teenagers swaying back and forth and clapping along on a classic black and white American Bandstand. The lush switch up did feel a bit askew but in a good, complex sort of way. It suddenly made the song feel like an acidic view, like gazing through those vintage family photo albums with frayed edges. I could feel irony and sadness discoloring the technicolor of the song. The lyrics contain bittersweet passages that reveal somber inspiration.  Hari Rex shared: 

“Each morning I look in the mirror and tell myself 'You picked the wrong day to feel pain.' Death is coming, he’s bringing his friends. They’re taking a Carnival cruise, harvesting the oceans of all life, then on to the flooding coasts. Their suitcases are packed with pestilence and genocide. No time for your own personal heartache, no time to be selfish, just let it eat away at you while you watch the latest viral video of children starving. Dislike. The weight is overwhelming, and the silence is staggering. I walk around in a stupor, helpless in this nightmare. I was recently diagnosed with crippling empathy, [the] doctor said I need to mind my own business. What a wonderful world.”

I have often thought along the same lines. Maybe we all do. About the crushing disparity of peoples lives in the world. 

Young Hunting is a five piece band centered around the songwriting prowess of Hari Rex and IIya Mxx who first met in 2007 and shared a love of classic California 60's and 70's pop and Nick Cave, Jason Molina and Can. Some of their sounds might sparkle but the lush dream pop falls away to darker gothic folk strains too. Over the last few years, members of the band toured with other artists including The Pharcyde and soul legend Syl Johnson. In the mean time, in Los Angeles, Hari and Ilya wrote new songs, which were (over time) recorded with Patrick Taylor (bass) and Miles Senzaki (drums) and mixed at Grandma’s Dojo in Koreatown. These songs became the album "True Believers" described by the band as "A psych-soul dream for the lovelorn" and from this first peak, first listen it sounds like an apt description. 

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Robb Donker