Rear Window’s 'Happiness By Design' is a wry, wistful, alt-pop triumph

Fronted by Gang of Four’s JJ Sterry and blues craftsman Santi Arribas, Rear Window deliver a debut that’s sharp, self-aware, and loaded with melancholy charm. 'Happiness By Design' doesn’t waste time trying to be trendy or cryptic; instead, it offers a no-frills look at modern discontent through infectious melodies, sardonic lyricism, and a production palette that fuses the nostalgic and the futuristic.

Sterry’s vocal delivery walks the line between deadpan confession and sardonic smirk, threading together reflections on modern monotony, emotional distance, and existential wanderlust. While his voice anchors the project with a matter-of-fact elegance, Arribas sculpts a soundscape that dances between motorik pulses, breezy grooves, and slinky guitar flourishes.

Opener 'Multi-Coloured Skies' sets the tone with shimmering optimism layered over a deeper questioning of fleeting ambition. Elsewhere, 'Running Away' injects a bossa nova sway into a meditation on self-sabotage, while 'The Price I Pay' confronts the emotional ache of distance.

Rear Window shines brightest when the songs feel like overheard conversations at closing time—intimate, unsentimental, and brutally honest. 'It’s Raining Again (In Soho)' mourns more than just a punk poet, it becomes a rumination on how environments shape our internal weather. Meanwhile, 'Rocket Men' skewers the modern obsession with legacy and tech-fueled escapism, managing to be both surreal and eerily grounded.

By the time you reach the album’s title-track, it’s clear that 'Happiness By Design' is a quiet resistance against hollow optimism. But that doesn’t mean it’s bleak. On the contrary, the record finds its strength in nuance: hope and cynicism, grief and relief, held in delicate balance. It’s an album that recognises life rarely gives you neat answers, but music can still be the question you keep coming back to.

Rear Window may not promise solutions, but in their debut, they offer something more enduring: songs that understand. And in a world saturated with noise, that’s a rare comfort.