Human Interest - Smile While You’re Losing (An Audio Guide To Wellness)

“I can’t decide if we’re living in heaven or hell / I’m trying my hardest to read in between the lines”. So begins ‘Matrix’, the penultimate track on Human Interest’s latest – an EP which sees the East London alt-rockers strive for moments of human connection and mutual understanding amidst the oftentimes horror show of the contemporary world. Like 2023’s ‘Empathy Lives In Outer Space’, ‘Smile While You’re Losing (An Audio Guide To Wellness)’ showcases the duo’s particular lyrical knack for interweaving the micro and the macro, zooming in on their personal experiences of social masking (‘Shapeshifting’), apocalypse anxiety (‘Nuclear War’), and more for a markedly truthful examination of our collective consciousness. From its spoken word ‘Intro’ – which is part Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Sunscreen’, part yoga instructor – to the Palma Violets twang of opener proper ‘Wearing Faces’ and the effortless harmonies of ‘Better Press Repeat’, this is a project which deals equally in highs and lows; and which recognises that actually, one cannot exist without the other.