Hungry Kids of Hungary

In celebration of release of the new HTC One – HTC and Speaker TV are proud to present Live@HTC. The Live@HTC campaign brings to life a vast mix of live music gigs across Australia, showcasing a selection of internationally acclaimed home-grown talent. In line with the new HTC One’s strong focus on music, Hungry Kids of Hungary will headline one of HTC’s Live@ events in Sydney.

Sometimes the best way to make progress is just to walk away – to step back, take stock, and come at things from a completely new angle. It’s a challenge that Hungry Kids of Hungary found themselves confronting last year. It had been a whirlwind ride since the release of their stellar debut album Escapades in 2010. The festivals, the meetings, the almost constant touring both here and around the world – the band knew that as time came to start thinking about album number two they would need to hit the reset button, to find a whole new approach.

And from the opening crash of their striking new record You’re A Shadow you can tell that they have nailed it. What hits you most is not across the album, is not the band’s trademark hooks and grasp of melody – it is the sense of simplicity, honesty. There’s no padding or studio trickery here, rather it’s a lean compelling collection of songs that capture a band well and truly in tune with what it takes to make a great record.

Where Escapades was an album that caught a band overflowing with ideas, You’re a Shadow is clearly their most cohesive and refined work to date. The album may be led by the two stomping singles ‘Sharp Shooter’ and ‘Twin Cities’, but as the eleven tracks unfold You’re A Shadow reveals itself as an album brimming with mood and moments like the ominous bottom end of ‘Do or Die’, the RnB flavour of ‘When Yesterday’s Gone (interestingly, the first ever Mazlin/McGrath co-write), the lush expanse of ‘Colours’, and the peerless ode to summer ‘Litter and Sand’. Together these songs make an album that sounds, in a word, ‘international’.

With the singles already making an impression, the band are preparing for a 2013 dominated by touring both in Australia and abroad you can’t help but notice a tangible sense of renewed energy within the band.

Whatever happens from here though, the band know they have done exactly what they wanted with this album…to make people think. If you thought you had Hungry Kids of Hungary worked out, guess again.

Hungry Kids of Hungary will perform in Sydney on the July 6th. Tickets on sale now.

For more information about the Live@HTC gigs and the new HTC one, follow facebook.com/HTCAU and stay tuned on how you could win tickets.