ANNA KOBLISH
The Happy Fits (clockwise from top left, Luke Davis, Raina Mullen, Calvin Langman and Nico Rosenbach).
Few band names have worked as seamlessly as The Happy Fits, whose vibrant pop sound can feel like joy captured in a bottle. Over nearly 10 years of nonstop touring and three full-length albums, the group has quietly racked up 300 million streams and an army of fervent fans from coast to coast and overseas.
But Lovesick, the group’s fourth album (set for release on Sept. 19), comes three years and a world of tumult after its predecessor. It is as sappy as it is happy, offering a sonic reinvention that takes some sizable artistic risks. Will the pieces still fit?
Classically trained cellist Calvin Langman and guitarist Ross Monteith formed The Happy Fits in rural Pittstown in 2016, with drummer Luke Davis soon coming aboard. The band’s immediate success led to the trio leaving college to pursue music full-time, with Langman’s charismatic voice and heartthrob looks working in contrast to Monteith and Davis’ geeky charm — the combination worked well with the trio’s original cozy, folk-pop sound. But years of heavy touring took their toll, with Monteith eventually deciding to leave the group and Davis taking an extended hiatus to get sober.
A 2023 tour concluded at Montclair’s Wellmont Theater with Langman as the only original member onstage until the finale, when Davis came out for a few songs.
That touring version of the band included guitarist/vocalists Nicole “Nico” Rosenbach and Raina Mullen, who would soon become full-time members. With Davis back behind the kit, the quartet then set about writing and recording Lovesick, which delivers enough of the Fits’ bubblegum fizz to keep fans bouncing giddily off the walls. Notably, though, the 15-track collection also takes detours down some unlikely paths.
The cover of The Happy Fits’ album, “Lovesick.”
Those looking for a quick fix of The Happy Fits’ hooky, hyper-caffeinated pop will find it quickly on tracks like the lead single “Everything You Do” (listen below), the bouncy “Cruel Power” (with its kitschy “ooh-la-la’s”), the zippy “The Nerve,” the urgent “Black Hole” (listen below) and the jaundiced love song “Shake Me.”
But that is only part of the story. The album opens with “Do You See Me,” which begins as an acoustic ballad but ends with an orchestral flourish soaked in schmaltz. Just as Paul McCartney would occasionally take The Beatles back to the British Music Hall tradition, Langman frequently dips into the past, with tracks that echo the ’70s sounds of ABBA and Philly Soul, as well as an old-fashioned, Great American Songbook-style ballad, “Sarah’s Song.” Langman also indulges his love of orchestral music with lush, romantic ballads like “I Could Stare at You for Hours,” “Superior,” “Wrong About Me” and the closer, “I Remember” (a showcase for his bowed cello).
All four of The Happy Fits sing, so Langman’s lead vocals often find themselves surrounded by cinematic bursts of male/female harmonies; additionally, several tracks feature uncredited lead vocals by either Rosenbach or Mullen that stray into Billie Eilish territory. One of those, “Lovesick #2,” features the peppery lines, “Now Cupid’s standing in my head/He’s such a creep, I need him dead/I want to peel off all my skin/Escape this hell you put me in.”
Love is a many-splendored thing, but occasionally, a huge pain in the keister. On this album that celebrates both the joys and travails of love, The Happy Fits don’t mince words. And that’s a good thing.
Yes, maybe the momentum (and indeed, the fun) on this album feels front-loaded, but it is to The Happy Fits’ (and especially Langman’s) credit that they are choosing to explore different sonic landscapes instead of just churning out “the hits.” Whether those new directions will resonate with fans remains an open question, but this is a band that lives on the road, where every note gets cranked up to 11 and the fast, frantic and catchy rules. My guess is The Happy Fits will be just fine, and possibly even outgrow the tag of “the most popular band from New Jersey that no one’s ever heard of.”
The Happy Fits will present a record-release performance and signing event at the Rough Trade Below record store in New York, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.; visit roughtrade.com/en-us/events. Upcoming concerts include The Fillmore in Philadelphia, Dec. 11; and The Brooklyn Paramount, Dec. 12. For more on the band, visit thehappyfits.com.
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