Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway

A self-producing indie artist, Los Angeles Hana Vu first started sharing her songs as a young teenager in the mid-2010s. By the arrival of her label debut, the 2018 EP How Many Times Have You Driven By, she was on the radar of the indie-music press and acts like Soccer Mommy and Sales, who invited her to open shows. In the months that followed, she graduated from high school and decided to pursue music full-time. Presented as a double EP, her first full-length is the intriguingly titled Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway. Less mercurial than her Luminelle debut, it homes in on a rich, dreamy, subversively grimy indie pop accompanied by simple beats, with occasional diversions into post-grunge (Order) and a Cure-derived dance-rock that lands somewhere in between (Outside, Passenger). The set opens with At the Party, a disco-infused jam with lush atmospheres that complement Vus naturally sonorous, surly delivery. Its self-conscious lyrics address an object of affection before ultimately deciding Ill never be good enough. Its one of several tracks that touch on notions of social status and celebrity as reflected in titles like Actress and Insider. On topic, the spare guitar ballad Fighter includes the line I want to be a big star, and I want to have everything. Thoroughly discontented and often infectious, Nicole Kidman/Anne Hathaway closes with Worm, a track whose minimalist arrangement of acoustic guitar and low-grade synth hum puts all focus on Vus quirky, yearning melody. Her voice is eerily triple-tracked on the song, slimming down to double-tracking for the records final words: You dont cry for me/But I want you to/I dont fly away/But I wanted to. By the end, it establishes Vu as an intriguing artist with a distinctive tone rather than merely one to watch. ~ Marcy Donelson