Review: Dublin trio HAVVK grow up but stay loud on new album Levelling

: by Joe Sharratt; in Reviews; on 23 September 2021

Dublin indie grunge trio HAVVK attracted attention with their self titled EP in 2016, and it’s follow up She Knows in 2017, before their debut album Cause & Effect, a stunning record that explored some big themes, brought their music to a wider audience. New album Levelling landed this week and, I’m delighted to report, keeps the fury and frenzy alive, while being just as lyrically intriguing as its predecessor.

Opening effort Tides ebbs and flows, before exploding into life with a crunch of big guitars, while Home rides a big bassline and a delicate vocal. Automatic offers the first moment of respite after the claustrophobia of No Patience, a track which squeezes around you. Under Your Breath and Halfway Out sit in the middle of the album, in some ways the record’s beating heart, two huge swirling indie anthems that deserve to reach new fans in waiting. The seven-and-a-half minute By Night mixes strings, drums and guitars as it stirs and sweeps, a perfectly fitting outro.

Writing on their official Facebook page about the new album, the band said: “It has been very strange to imagine that this day would finally happen and yet here we are - and that is kind of what these songs are about! This record is all about growing up and how the weight of our life choices change along the way; how time has the power to heal or distort us, to freeze us at a crossroads or move too fast around us.

“It's about the moments we find our confidence or realise we can do better, and about the people we choose to love, to guide us, or to let go of along the way. This record was born out of our friendships and big big chats, supporting each other trying to be grown ups in the world.

“Thank you for being with us this year and helping us put Levelling out there in the world. We hope it brings you plenty of joy and angst and all the big feelings in between.”

Levelling tracklist: