Hunky (aka Nicholas Forbes) knows how to spin a tune. He also knows how to tell a story. And as a result his latest album Casual keeps things casual only on the basis of the vibrant electro-pop production he’s wrapped his ditties in. When it comes to his clean cut lyrical content, not so much.
Replete with pop influence from across the ’80’s, ’90’s and ’00’s, Casual channels a sort of era-straddling, contemporary nuance, bookended by thumping beats and the kind of lyrics which deliver an underhand hard-hitting thought.
Opener “Meant For This Place” sets the scene with a rollicking synth throwback sound, unfurling a meditation on moving on – physically or emotionally, it’s hard to tell. “I Could Do That For Ya” is all lo-fi synths and a neon-lit promise to treat you right, while “Tell Me So” channels a dark, heady liquid bass driven with an appeal for honesty (“If you’re through with me/ baby tell me so”).
The album moves seamlessly across the last few decades of electro-pop influence – tugging at the heartstrings again and again as Hunky chronicles breakups and breakdowns, the grittier side to relationships, and the occasional self deprecating perspective – fleeting and following by something like “Everything about us was lethal / we never should have gone with the flow” (“It’s Over”).
But the unerring standout track has to be “If It Aint Gay”, if only for the sheer creativity and unexpectedness of it. Bringing a vibrant, choral montage to the fore, it plays out like a musical theatre piece – serving as a punchy, unapologetic queer anthem bred to be blasted.
Feature pic supplied by artist
