Happie runs the emotional gamut on her seductive new EP Heartbreak Season — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Mixing warmly organic instrumentation with sleek electro-ambience, storyteller narratives, sultry grooves and seductive sentimentality, the EP is an emotive five-song collection that marks a radical reinvention, born from the end of romantic and professional relationships and an artistic rebirth. Heartbreak Season comes on the heels of the indie-pop singer-songwriter’s breakout performance at the Austin City Limits festival and arrives amid glowing coverage from multiple outlets.
“These are the most vulnerable songs I’ve ever released, and I definitely shed tears writing them,” Happie reveals. “Heartbreak Season is about what we have to go through to find real love. It doesn’t have to represent sadness, but rather bravery, empowerment, growth, truth, excitement, and knowing that anything is possible — that the love I’m seeking is seeking me.”
Conceptually, Heartbreak Season is a snapshot of dating, relationships, and the quest for deep romantic connections. The EP was written with Happie’s dear friend, the pop-rock artist iRO Music (aka Ori Rakib) — a talented songwriter who has worked with Macklemore and Shane McAnally, and won NBC’s Songland songwriting competition. It also features the production and multi-instrumentalist skills of Gene Evaro Jr.
Written in the middle of a New York winter, the title track of her new EP is a “soulful and sultry expression of a moment in time,” Happie says. The release followed the EP’s first single All I Needed, a sultry and honest offering that exudes a sensual longing, featuring a mix by David Block of The Human Experience, whom Happie met while performing in Antarctica.
Previously, Happie toured the world as one half of indie folk duo Eric & Happie, with Eric Hunker. The duo specialized in modern indie-folk versions of traditional Jewish music and new originals, and took their vibrant musicality around the world, including powerful performances in Poland, Russia, and Moldova, at festivals like SXSW and Sundance Israel, and for the UN.
Heartbreak Season is a departure from these sacred roots. She says: “My Jewish music was vulnerable, and letting people know they are not alone. In some ways this new music is no different — it’s about being open — but I am writing about my heart, so these songs are personal in a different way.” Eric & Happie were romantically involved and that relationship and band ended years ago — though their deep friendship remains. “It was a beautiful band and a beautiful relationship — it taught me what love can be,” she shares.
Reflecting on Heartbreak Season, she says: “It’s felt really exciting and meaningful showing people who know me and my sound this new music. I am proud of this EP.”
Check out Heartbreak season below, watch some of her videos above, and get Happie on Instagram and Facebook.
