South East London’s newest rock/emo outfit, happier?, is set to make waves with their debut single, If I Couldn’t Live Without You, dropping March 16th, 2025. The track marks the first of five deeply personal songs slated for release over the coming months, introducing a band unafraid to bare their soul through a potent mix of raw emotion and genre-spanning soundscapes.
If I Couldn’t Live Without You is born from the ashes of a devastating moment. At the start of 2024, happier?’s singer Joshua Venzetti found himself grappling with the end of his engagement. What followed was a cathartic burst of creativity, five songs penned in solitude, originally deemed too intimate for public release. That changed in November 2024 when bandmates Lexi James and Kiran Solanki joined Josh to kickstart happier?, a new project forged from the embers of past musical endeavours. After hearing the tracks, Lexi and Kiran were moved to tears, insisting these songs deserved to be heard in their entirety, no edits, no compromises.
With Fraser Powell later joining the lineup, happier? poured everything into perfecting these tracks. They tapped rising alternative metal engineer Meyrick de la Fuente to capture Kiran’s guitars and Fraser’s drums with precision, while legendary producer Steve Evetts (The Cure, The Wonder Years, Senses Fail) brought his masterful touch to the mixing process. The songs were then handed to Jay Maas (Defeater, Title Fight, Citizen) for mastering, resulting in a sonic journey that feels both intimate and cinematic.
If I Couldn’t Live Without You sets the stage with a visceral recounting of the day Josh’s world unraveled. Its anthemic chorus and climactic outro serve as both a gut-punch and a promise of what’s to come. Accompanied by a music video, currently in post-production, the single is the first chapter of an emotional rollercoaster, with the full EP being released on April 16th.
Formed in the wake of stalled projects during the COVID era, happier? is the brainchild of Joshua Venzetti, Kiran Solanki, Lexi James, and Fraser Powell four South East Londoners with a knack for crafting "loud and sad" anthems. The band’s name, stylized with a lowercase "h" and a cheeky question mark, nods to a playful yet poignant truth: even in collaboration, their creativity thrives in melancholy. happier? emerges with no prior releases but a bold vision, ready to carve their mark on the rock and emo landscape.
