Boston grit-pop trio Happy Little Clouds’ sophomore album tells a poignant story of reflection, assessment and awakening. The band’s collective experience has shaped these nine tracks on Embers, and the stories contained within, packed tightly in the band’s eclectic, melodic, and soulful post-grunge sound, offer an invitation to seek refuge, seek allyship, and attempt, both collectively and individually, to make sense of an insane world. 

The record’s title derives from a lyric in new single “Liar Fire” -- “All my body curls like embers / Up or down I’m forced to choose” – a white-hot blast of ‘70s arena-rock ambition that sets a striking tone for an album packed with definable moments.  

“We really liked the symbolism of embers because it represents an intense, ephemeral light – like life,” the band states. “While an ember burns you can’t tell which way it’s going to drift. In the song, it represents a panicked moment where you are at a crossroads in life. You either choose to give into your fear or move toward love.” 

The songs in the album follow a narrative,” the band explains. “Fresh-faced optimism, encounters various obstacles, people and life experiences. Our protagonist plumbs the depths of introspection, existentialism, and eventually a dark night of the soul. They reemerge after hitting rock bottom and sincerely ask, like The Fool in the tarot, ‘Can you help me with these questions about life, loss, and love?’” 

By Embers’ closing track, “The Water at Your Feet,” there is a reflection back at life, and Mestel sums it up perfectly: “Like a town drowned to create a reservoir with all its once relevant objects now relics of the past. We end the album looking back through all of life, both the painful and the joyful parts, all together.” 


Clear and Present Danger

Happy Little Clouds is a genre-blurring indie rock band from Boston crafting emotionally charged, melody-forward music with a raw edge and radiant heart. Their self-described sound “grit-pop” weaves the brightness of power pop with the nerve of post-grunge and the introspection of 90s and 2000s alt-rock. Think the intensity of Wolf Alice with the melodic shimmer of Metric and the lyrical bite of PJ Harvey.   Jac Mestel's unfiltered, heart-on-sleeve lyrics entwine with catchy-AF melodies and emerge as vocals that have been known to turn heads. Derek Bergstrom's creamy bass counter-melodies mix with Mestel's driving guitar. Jess Townsend's (World/Inferno, Ketman) unique, expressive drumming is the underlying pulse that brings the band to life. Built on a foundation of vulnerability, loud guitars, fresh drum beats, and fearless storytelling, Happy Little Clouds has emerged as a compelling voice in the New England indie scene.