
Do you ever just turn on a song and immediately feel happier–even lighter, perhaps? That’s the way I felt when I first listened to the opening track off Hanna Kostamaa’s self-released EP Spectrum. Even though the subject matter of “Always Gonna Feel Kinda Lonely” is not lighthearted, the sounds of the song filled my ears with whimsy.
The San Diego-based Kostamaa plays with rock instrumentation and pop melodies to create a sound that’s all her own. Spectrum combines this indie-pop/rock sound with very realistic lyrics that seem to say, “even though life isn’t all sunshine and lollipops, our instrumentation can be.”
Opener “Always Gonna Feel Kinda Lonely” is the shining single off this EP. The keyboard intro is very reminiscent of the beginning of “Cherry Tulips” by Headlights–in fact, Headlights is a really great comparison to this release. The quirky pop sound of “Always Gonna Feel Kinda Lonely” and “Lost in a Dream” contain the same whimsical instrumentation found in many Headlights songs. Both artists fill their instrumentation with the electronic keyboard, funky bass lines, and beachy Californian guitar. Hanna’s voice even sounds very familiar in tone and style to Erin Fein’s. Unfortunately, Headlights has disbanded; luckily we have Hanna Kostamaa to keep their sound alive!
The other two songs on the EP, “Claustrophobia” and “WIldfire,” have much more of a indie rock feel akin to The Black Keys. “Claustrophobia” begins with a light drum beat and quickly points our attention towards a truly funky bass line. On top of the drums and awesome bass line, Hanna layers a slightly chaotic electric guitar that takes off on solos which ooze rock ’n roll sex appeal, similar to what Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney tend to do. “Wildfire” then begins with the sexy electric guitar that “Claustrophobia” left off on. Hanna’s experimentation with badass rock ‘n roll instrumentation delightfully keeps Spectrum from being an innocent indie-pop EP. The way Hanna fully enters into two different worlds- the rock and the pop- and makes them both her own in Spectrum that really makes the unique sound of the EP stand out.
Hanna’s darker lyrics also inhibit Spectrum from being a happy-go-lucky pop collection. Even “Lost in a Dream” is not as innocent as its name and instrumentation sounds. Instead of “Lost in a Dream” being an angelic love song–which is what I originally thought it was–it speaks a much darker message.The track opens with “Meeting by the swings/ Innocence and its dream” and I thought, aww–how sweet, a love song! As the song progresses, the chorus hit me with a reality check–this song isn’t about gaining love, it’s about losing love. The chorus repeats throughout the song: “Hold on, where are you going?/ We didn’t agree that it was finished for you and me/ Hold on, why are you going?” I then realized that the first few lyrics were actually what she later describes as “Clinging onto the few good things.”
The sweet-sounding instrumentation of “Lost in a Dream” continues to the end of the song, leading us to the final, despondent lyric: “Hold on, why are you gone?” It’s as if the playful, dream-pop sound of the song is meant to lead us astray just as much as the “few good things” led her to think that maybe there’s a chance that the relationship doesn’t have to end. But all good things must end at some point.
The very realistic, human lyrics pair with the quirky indie-pop/rock vibe in a wonderfully paradoxical way. It is beautiful hearing a budding artist play around with sound, resulting in an EP that’s entirely unique. Hanna Kostamaa’s Spectrum is a great example of what it sounds like for an artist to have fun with her music and not worry which subgenre to perfectly fit into. It’s just good music. And good music should be appreciated. —Krisann Janowitz