‘It’s Alright’ by Australian/British folk duo HUX starts you off sitting on the side of your bed, tapping your fingers against your knee, absently noticing the tan line on your thumb where you lost a ring last summer. When the smouldering vocals pour into the air moments later, you stop gazing at your hands and start nodding your head in time to the steady, easy beat.
Using just two acoustics, two vocals and a stomp box, which is diversified instrumentally in production, HUX members George and Patrick create a bewitchingly uneven folk track that shifts and switches between choruses, so that your ear follows it up and down. A rich, solid bass accompanies sliding acoustic guitar, prompting your upper body to move along with the rhythm. When matched with a building beat, intermittent clapping and harmonies, HUX’s technical skills are undeniable, combining these instrumentals to add texture, nuance, and depth.
As the first chorus rolls around, you lie back on your quilt, feet tapping, hands moving through the air like they’re following the rushing wind outside of a car window. Hips twitching, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips as you find yourself absorbed in this song about saying and doing whatever is on your mind, no matter what people think. Lead singer, George, deftly pivots from smoky to zealous vocals, gorgeously complemented by Patrick’s husky tenor. The vocals take centre stage in this single, with the emotional weight intensified by the acoustic instrumentals.
Lyrical lapses allow for the plucky string filled rhythm to seep into the seconds, letting you ruminate on the eloquent phraseology: ‘I’m on the wrong side of a sunburnt skyline’ and ‘I won the battle but you stopped the war/every world is a world nobody understands’ are highlights, while the hook of the chorus is infectious.
As the pace speeds up around the second verse, you’re on your feet in front of the mirror, twirling smoothly, tasting the poetry that HUX so entrancingly record. Changes in the vocal arrangement keep the track engaging and energetic throughout, a dynamic often missing in indie-acoustic music. It would be unfair to compare these two young, unkempt musicians to the likes of Ben Howard or Vance Joy, as they are flirting with entirely their own sound.
‘It’s Alright’ picks its pace up further at the bridge, reaching a crescendo of energy and magnificent musical composition that has you dancing around the room, swaying your hips and pirouetting through the sunlight until you are being completely carried by the tune, your bedroom a dancefloor, HUX your soundtrack.
Hux has created a playlist especially for Neon Music of their personal picks for November and stream their single ‘It’s Alright’.
See HUX’s upcoming shows.