Sunshine Coast's Happy Valley unleash on anthemic, emotional new single, 'Tell Me When to Break'
Sunshine Coast-based indie rock outfit, Happy Valley crank the intensity and energy on their latest single, ‘Tell Me When to Break’, which is out today.
The latest track from the guitar-heavy crew is a heavy-hitting anthem that pulses, inviting listeners to punch the air in time with the stabbing guitars, all the while yelling out their frustrations along to the soaring chorus.
“We wanted to make a track for people to let it all out. It’s a song that really represents when things are overwhelming, and everyone has that breaking point” says Happy Valley frontman, Trey Cooper.
With a sound you could equate to ‘Arctic Monkeys meets Nothing But Thieves’, Happy Valley have an effortlessly cool stage presence, alongside a huge sound of tight guitars, rock drums and distinctive vocals. Best described as a ‘guitar-based’ rock band, Happy Valley ‘really lived up to this’ when recording ‘Tell Me When to Break’ - which they said ‘has about 20 or 30 guitar tracks’, all delicately balanced to deliver the right energy for the song.
‘Tell Me When To Break’ packs a whole load of epic experimental heavy indie into a sub-three minute track. Happy Valley definitely take a leaf out of the Nothing But Thieves book, from the dance-rock beats, short chord stabs, and frontman Trey Cooper emitting power, emotion and controlled falsetto to stunning effect. This is a level of intensity, danceable heaviness and addictive listenability Australian Music has been craving.
With a somewhat punk mentality, Happy Valley describes ‘Tell Me When to Break’ as an anthem for “when you’re at breaking point, but you’re not allowed to be. It’s like you have to ask society's permission. When you’re in the middle of a shift at work, you can’t just break down, so you need to ask permission to go on a break, where you can cry or yell and get out your emotion”
Guitarist Beau was the instigator of this song, writing the initial riff that the band fell in love with. The chorus came naturally with this riff, and, at a time when the band were feeling their own frustrations from industry pressure, ‘Tell Me When To Break’ was born. Happy Valley recorded the song, using some of the guitar takes from that demo, before laying down the rest of the tracking in Tom Megalos’s studio in Brisbane’s La La Land.
After festival performances, support slots, and their own headline shows in 2023, Happy Valley are returning to the live scene this year with a single launch at Tomcat on July 19th. Just two days after the release of ‘Tell Me When to Break’, the show is sure to be heaving with a crowd of the band’s dedicated fan-base, and is certainly one not to miss.
‘Tell Me When to Break’ is now streaming on all digital platforms.
