One of the pleasures of writing for this site is the constant influx of new artists that are removed from the usual machinations of press releases, album cycles, promotional alerts, marketing gimmicks, yada yada yada. Oftentimes the submissions we receive are delivered with nothing more than a link and a single line or two imploring us to check out their work. Which is, frankly, kind of refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, I like having background into an artist, and I can appreciate having the context for whatever song or album I’m listening to, but sometimes it’s nice to experience music in a void, free from exterior connections and established meaning.
With that said, allow me to introduce to you Willie “Fune” Williams, who records and performs under the moniker HAVNTR (pronounced “Haunter”). The local artist and producer released his six-song EP Wasted Days and Holograms late last summer and recently dropped the video for album single “Balboa,” which you can watch above.
Williams describes his particular aesthetic as “gloom pop,” and you can hear some of that moodiness filtering its way into the production as chiming synths float languorously over a crisp trap beat. The vibe isn’t really somber or dreary per se, but there’s definitely a kind of murky haze that courses through the song, especially within the vocals which echo and drift through a turbid fog. “Just don’t hit me up, I ain’t got time to chill / Y’all be in your feelings, I ain’t got time to feel,” HAVNTR sings with stoic resolution, giving voice to what seems like the track’s woozy disaffection. But despite his best efforts to stand stone-faced against a world he sees as empty and fake, the end result bristles with all-too-human vulnerability.
HAVNTR will perform on Fri., June 14 for Night 1 of the Peach Music Festival at the Drunken Unicorn. Doors open at 9 p.m. Admission is $12 for a one-night pass or $24 for the full festival. 18+ to enter.
More Info
Web: havntr.onuniverse.com
Facebook: @HAUNTERATL
Instagram: @havntr_dreams
Twitter: @havntr_dreams