Album Review: Everyone Says Hi by Everyone Says Hi

Hodgson - best known as the founding drummer and a primary songwriter for Kaiser Chiefs, as well as a co-writer for pop luminaries like Dua Lipa, George Ezra, and Holly Humberstone - has traded his sticks for a guitar, stepping into the spotlight as a frontman with surprising ease. His new band's self-titled debut ably marries the bright, tuneful spirit of 1960s pop (think The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society) with the freewheeling indie-sleaze sensibility of the early 2000s, giving us a polished record that sounds both nostalgic and refreshingly of-the-moment. There's not a misstep in these ten tracks - each song radiates the band's confidence.

Full Review >>

Everyone Says Hi is a new supergroup led by ex-Kaiser Chiefs' songwriter/drummer, Nick Hodgson, here taking the role of lead singer/guitarist/frontman. He is accompanied by some major players in the shape of Pete Denton (The Kooks) on bass, Glenn Moule (Howling Bells) on drums, keyboard player Ben Gordon (The Dead 60s) alongside Leeds based guitarist Tom Dawson. The group now introduces themselves to the world with their debut album.

Full Review >>

Although this self-titled record is technically a debut, given that Everyone Says Hi’s main protagonist is former Kaiser Chief Nick Hodgson (who released a solo record, 'Tell Your Friends', in 2018) it's actually almost a reintroduction; a similar warmth emanates from the songs as its pseudo predecessor, and the indebtedness to classic pop songwriting that runs through Hodgson's work has now garnered a handful of big-name songwriting collaborations. Opener 'Somebody Somewhere' nods to the The Strokes' softer moments; 'Brain Freeze' takes in both '90s acid jazz and a psych-lite guitar breakdown, while channelling Supergrass' latter turn; 'Only One' comes in like a recent Vaccines number; and 'I Wish I Was In New York' seems right from the '70s soft-rock playbook, as both its own title and the album's sleeve suggests it might. Which is all to say, 'Everyone Says Hi' is impeccably constructed and quietly lush - although towards the latter half, it does threaten to straddle the line between 'quiet' and 'background music'.

Full Review >>