After releasing their second album, Write In, in 2017, London indie rockers Happyness went on a brief hiatus that involved co-leader Benji Compston parting ways with the group. With help from members of their touring band, including Yuck's Max Bloom, the remaining duo of Jonny Allan and Ash Kenazi re-emerge three years later with Floatr. Collecting songs that were largely affected by the existential dread shared by many in the wake of the 2016 elections, it's a slightly more downcast effort from a project usually always in a thoughtful headspace. While intimate and ruminative -- a mood only emphasized by Allan's Elliott Smith-reminiscent vocals -- they still deliver volatile, borderline dance-rock on tracks like "Ouch (Yup)." It mingles its yearning melodies and lush keyboard atmospheres with driving drums, crashing cymbals, and even an extended guitar solo. Other lush, uptempo selections include the melancholy "Undone" and funked-up "Milk Float," both of which add a balance of distortion to the mix. The bulk of the album is foggier, though, with a dreamy confluence of midtempo rhythms and atmosphere established with the opening track "Floatr" alongside lyrics like "Maybe it’d be much better to be irreversibly changing endlessly." On the sparer side, the elegant "When I'm Far Away (From You)" embellished a timeless piano ballad with warped, murmuring electronics and touches of off-balance guitar, all mixed below half-whispered, filtered vocals. The album's diverse arrangements but consistent, sighing mood give Floatr a low-key cinematic quality on top of its meditative one. Though it may not be Happyness' most playlist-friendly set, it still lingers. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

1		title track
2		Milk Float
3		When I'm Far Away (From You)
4		Vegetable
5		What Isn't Nurture?
6		Bothsidesing
7		Undone
8		Anvil Bitch
9		Ouch (Yup)
10		(I Kissed the Smile on Your Face)
11		Seeing Eye Dog

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