A smart four-piece hailing from Christchurch, Adam Hattaway and the Haunters have now released two albums in the space of under a year. While 2018’s ‘All Dat Love’, was a mix of alt-rock, fuzzy lo-fi noise and soul, this second one is a raucous celebration, a hybrid of Americana-country, rock’n’roll and blues, with some punky swagger thrown in for good measure.

‘Crying Lessons’ is an engaging mix of up-tempo tracks punctuated with slower moments of doo-wop (Take Care Of You), soul (Cry In Vain), and slinky blues (Over It).

One of the most affecting tracks is Control It, an alt-pop gem written by Delaney Davidson, and one of the highlights of the album. Davidson’s sonic fingerprints feature throughout the album, which is reminiscent of his own 2018 long-player ‘Shining Day’, likely due to him producing ‘Crying Lessons’ at The Lab in Auckland, with Jol Mulholland on engineering duties.

It’s a toe-tappingly great collection of 10 songs, with a cohesive sound that fits both Hattaway’s voice, and The Haunters’ style well. Adam Hattaway’s history with Wurld Series and The Eastern has meant he’s a well-known name in Christchurch, but maybe not so much further afield.

The joyous, uncomplicated and wildly superb ‘Crying Lessons’ could very well be your next favourite album.