Queer femme quartet Hyaenas release debut album Human Nature ahead of Canadian West Coast summer shows

“I’ll Take Mine (Seismic Shift)” fell into place when the group decided to try and rip off Rilo Kiley. “This song took the longest to write and was the hardest to come together but has turned into my favourite,” the band’s vocalist Sophie Heppell explains.

“I wrote the ending synth solo melody long before Hyaenas was even a twinkle in my eye, with other pieces of it collected and stored along the way in voice notes and journals… The opening line ‘I didn’t see it coming’ I stole from myself - from a silly song I wrote for Jen [Foster, drums] right at the beginning of our relationship, and the whole track encapsulates my love for her and how the path least expected can bring forth the most golden rewards that you never saw coming.”

Across Human Nature, Hyaenas - comprised of two married couples - pull from dark pop, indie rock, and synthy alt-pop to unpick perfectionism and gender politics. As Heppell puts it, “I think it’s really easy to feel defeated these days… but I think our greatest super power is hope, and with a record called Human Nature it’s nice to end on a hopeful note.”

Since forming in 2021, the band have played festivals such as NXNE, CMW, and Folk on the Rocks, and shared stages with The Pack AD and Shred Kelly. Their 2023 EP Little Trophy cracked the national !Earshot Radio Charts at number 11, accrued over 175,000 streams, and led to a sync placement in Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys.

The band will mark the album’s release with a run of Western Canadian dates this summer, including a Vancouver show on 31 July at Wise Hall as part of Queerdohpalooza alongside Devours and Hank Pine, with further stops in Cumberland, Nanaimo, Sooke, Fernie, Kelowna, Kamloops and a set at Chilliwack Mural Festival.