Stephanie Happening is back on the scene with an unapologetic roar, dropping their latest single โSmash Hits.โ Hailing from London, the alt-pop innovator has carved out a lane by marrying cinematic textures with punk sensibilities, and here they double down on that sound. While living with DID(Dissociative Identity Disorder), Stephanie doesnโt perform as much as embody, as she brings her lived suffering to her music. With previous cuts like โWe Move in Piecesโ and โDonโt Believe the Lies,โ theyโve been weaving grit and vulnerability into anthems for the marginalized. โSmash Hitsโ feels like the natural next chapter, a full-bodied reclamation song built for both headphones and big screens.
The opening immediately sets the stage with suspenseful, theatrical tones before Stephanieโs thick and arresting voice cuts in. They sing sensually but sharply, as if leaning toward danger rather than retreating from it. โI should run, but I am leaning in,โ they confess, flipping instinct into defiance. The beats tick menacingly until the chorus detonates with a choir of layered vocals swelling like an army behind the lead, creating this spine-tingling wall of sound. They sing the heart-stopping chorus, โYour slap hits and harmonies swell/Like thunder kissing Churchbell hellโฆ You did it once, and you will do it again.โ You see the juxtaposition between beauty and brutality as music and violence collide.
The uneasy push-pull gets distilled in the gut-punch metaphor from the trauma bond that cultivates between the abuser and the victim, which she reckons in the line, โItโs the sting in the sugar, the bruise in the beat.โ And in that paradox lies the brilliance.
Listen to โSmash Hitsโ by Stephanie Happening on Spotify.
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Review by: Naomi Joan