Biography
London-based indie rock trio Happyness weave ethereal melodies drawn from '90s acts including Sparklehorse and Pavement together with sardonic observations that shape their introspective tracks. The group first appeared as a three-piece on the 2014 debut Weird Little Birthday before contracting to a duo ahead of the 2020 release Floatr, all while retaining their core guitar-driven sound.
Childhood friends singer/guitarist Benji Compston, singer/bassist Jonny Allan, and drummer Ash Cooper, who performs as Ash Kenazi, each participated in separate projects during their teenage years prior to uniting as Happyness. The musicians began composing material collectively inside a Bermondsey, South London facility situated beneath railway arches. Following shows under several earlier names, they adopted the Happyness moniker and commenced U.K. touring. Indie imprint Weird Smiling soon signed the act, leading to sessions for their first full-length, Weird Little Birthday. That 2014 album included guest backing vocals by Saffron Le Bon. Bar/None Records subsequently added the band to its roster and issued a U.S. edition of Weird Little Birthday in 2015. In 2016 the five-song EP Tunnel Vision on Your Part introduced the steadier introspective mood, along with two tracks, that would define the self-produced follow-up Write In, which Bar/None and Moshi Moshi issued in 2017.
Following a short break, the group shifted to Infinit Suds and delivered its third album, Floatr, in 2020. The record adopted a subtly darker hue shaped by contemporary political currents and featured only Allan and Kenazi. Studio assistance came from live-band contributors Max Bloom of Yuck, Anna Vincent of Heavy Heart, and Scott Booker Roach of Social Contract.
Childhood friends singer/guitarist Benji Compston, singer/bassist Jonny Allan, and drummer Ash Cooper, who performs as Ash Kenazi, each participated in separate projects during their teenage years prior to uniting as Happyness. The musicians began composing material collectively inside a Bermondsey, South London facility situated beneath railway arches. Following shows under several earlier names, they adopted the Happyness moniker and commenced U.K. touring. Indie imprint Weird Smiling soon signed the act, leading to sessions for their first full-length, Weird Little Birthday. That 2014 album included guest backing vocals by Saffron Le Bon. Bar/None Records subsequently added the band to its roster and issued a U.S. edition of Weird Little Birthday in 2015. In 2016 the five-song EP Tunnel Vision on Your Part introduced the steadier introspective mood, along with two tracks, that would define the self-produced follow-up Write In, which Bar/None and Moshi Moshi issued in 2017.
Following a short break, the group shifted to Infinit Suds and delivered its third album, Floatr, in 2020. The record adopted a subtly darker hue shaped by contemporary political currents and featured only Allan and Kenazi. Studio assistance came from live-band contributors Max Bloom of Yuck, Anna Vincent of Heavy Heart, and Scott Booker Roach of Social Contract.
Albums
