Live Review: HYYTS - Colours, London 30/11/2021
Glaswegian electropop duo HYYTS brought a touch of St Andrew’s Day magic to Tuesday night at Colours in Hoxton.
Adam Hunter and Sam Hunter (no relation) created a cathartic feeling in the packed room, making an outstanding impression with their own tracks and two well-matched covers.
Ines Rae opened the show with a solid set including her latest singles ‘Don’t Say It’ and ‘New Girl’, as well as covering ‘Falling’ by Harry Styles. The performance was full of 00s pop vibes, with unreleased songs from an upcoming EP offering hints of early Ellie Goulding. A particular highlight was Ines getting the audience to sing an elongated version of the word “gone” during the epic ‘Life Jacket’.
HYYTS instigated their own set with ‘Avalanche’, an indication of what was to come. The set up was simple – Sam on keys, Adam on lead vocals and intense on-stage dancing – but it let the tunes shine.
“Well done for coming out on a Tuesday,” Adam told the room in his rose-covered shirt, before the start of ‘Lonely People’, with the serendipitous lyric “So spend your money, move your body on a Tuesday night.”
It was only the second live outing for ‘Heavy Stuff’, but you wouldn’t have known it if they hadn’t said it. It didn’t matter there was a microphone issue mid-song, it was a prime marker to their planned destination of pop stardom, as Adam sang: “I need to stop, drop this baggage off, ‘cause it’s heavy stuff.”
Adam was continually surprised the room was full, but the astonishment went both ways – every second of the show had a kick. The strength in depth meant HYYTS played ‘Bad Tattoo’ and ‘Kinda Need You Here Tonight’ either side of the new song. Lesser acts would have needed those tunes as closers, not sandwiched in the middle of a 50-minute set.
Despite their own big songs, HYYTS were not afraid to put their own spin on covers. Shania Twain’s ‘You’re Still The One’ was repackaged with arm-waving and an epic electronic drop, while the first song of the very much pre-planned encore was a stab at East 17’s ‘Stay Another Day’. “Are you ready to sing and dance like it’s the 90s again?” Adam asked the crowd, who cheered and sang along with the 1994 chart-topper, and every move the duo made.
HYYTS wrapped up their time with ‘Blue & White’, alongside a shoutout for St Andrew’s Day. Whilst Glasgow’s fine pop purveyors didn’t write it for the Scottish bank holiday, it felt like a good fit. The track, taken from the June EP ‘helluvatime’, is one of the best tracks in their repertoire, and a celebration – one of many moments for the 300 people in Colours to cherish across the night.
Pop music isn’t easy, but Scotland’s finest make it look effortless. The blue and white of Sam and Adam should be scaling greater HYYTS than this for years to come.
Words by Samuel Draper
