Welsh indie quartet Half Happy have just released their first single of the year, ‘Slow Down’. Moving capriciously through genres, their sound has brushed upon indie rock, dreamy bedroom pop and post-punk. Their newest track is carefully reassuring from the moment it begins with the words ‘slow down, little bird’. Vocalist Rosalie Miller’s message is crystal clear against an isolated guitar riff that intertwines a hazy, midwestern style moodiness with a brighter, hopeful tone. Hope blossoms as the song progresses in a perfect merger of the genres that have been associated with the band. The arrangement is gripping as its initial melody is elevated by a steady groove of drums and bass that hook you in and carry you through the track gently, just before breaking into a wall of sound. The instrumentation becomes more insistent as it enters a dreamlike state. The riffs are crunchier, the drums are more demanding all in support of the echoing closing chorus – ‘slow down, slow down, slow down’, an overall incredibly convincing argument in favour of stopping and smelling the roses. -Kayla Sandiford