Tim Ovenden
Nottingham Trent alumni Ollie Greenhalgh has an EP out, under his alias hidingthehurt. With ‘From Fieldfare With Love,’ the self-confessed emo boy dishes up a healthy six-track helping of hyperpop. After listening to 100 Gecs once, Tim Ovenden made his entire personality ‘the guy to never give the aux to.’ Since then, he’s made a name out of spewing insignificant insight through the means of Impact Magazine. Today, he ponders whether this EP is worth tucking into…
Unfamiliar with all things hyperpop? Let me try to fill you in, dear reader. While PC Music’s A.G. Cook and the late SOPHIE are undoubtably responsible for crafting and pioneering the genre, an interesting footnote in the origin of hyperpop predates them.
The hyperpop ‘sound’ is one of maximalism
Farrah Abraham’s ‘MY Teenage Dream Ended’ from 2012 is a disasterpiece in the best possible sense. Attempting to unironically make an emotionally-resonant electropop album, the Teen Mom ‘star’ instead accidentally served up wholly unique and bewildering music, thanks to absurdly autotuned vocals and all-over-the-place production. Ten years later and we see meme artists like Emily Montes desperate to emulate what Abraham stumbled upon.
Back on track, digicore (a broader term for hyperpop) often flaunts multiple influences, pulling from cloud rap, Skrillex-style dubstep and, of course, Kesha/Britney Spears-esque pounding pop. The hyperpop ‘sound’ is one of maximalism, typically boasting high-pitched, hyper-feminine ‘earworm’ vocals and bass that sounds like metal pipes banging together.
Like all burgeoning music of interest, it found a home on tiktok, thanks to hits like Never Met! and SugarCrash. And that’s where I left it. Before this review, the only digicore-leaning record I’d heard in over a year was the mind-blowing ‘Frailty’ by the teenager dltzk (pronounced ‘delete zeek’), which pushed the boundaries of experimentation and genre.
hidingthehurt’s new EP, on the other hand, wants to cement its place inside the genre of hyperpop, playing to the conventions in an oddly comforting way. It’s not going to turn over any doubters of digicore, but I can see every song here slipping snuggly onto the coveted ‘Hyperpop Classics’ playlist that Spotify curates.
the more mellow cuts on the EP make for necessary contrast and, ironically, happen to be my favourite on the project
I’ve always been of the opinion that the best hyperpop songs should be fast, trashy and ravey, like 100 Gecs’ came to my show or their r3mix of NEVER MET! ‘From Fieldfare With Love’ has me rethinking that viewpoint entirely: the more mellow cuts on the EP make for necessary contrast and, ironically, happen to be my favourite on the project.
On both the emotionally resonant Take Ur Leave and The Station, Greenhalgh has flawless chemistry with guest features Tsuyunoshi and st jimmy (respectively). I want to hear an EP solely with the vibe of these songs and overall, I very much recommend naysayers give these two tracks a go if nothing else. If you like what you hear, dive right in my friend.
Tim Ovenden
Featured image courtesy of Alex Watkin. Permission to use granted to Impact. No changes were made to this image.
In-article image courtesy of @hidingthehurt._ via @instagram.com. No changes were made to this image.
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