HNRY FLWR

Brooklyn musician David Van Witt records and plays live (with a band) under the name HNRY FLWR. After spending the last two years honing his project's live show, he found a home for his debut EP 'Flowerama' at NYC's Paper Garden Records. Opening track “Stranger” moves from somber beginnings into a bright keyboard driven anthem. Nuanced layers emerge throughout with cascading background vocals and buzzing synths. “As Above, So Below” (streaming) slithers along like a soundtrack to some middle-eastern mystery quest film. Ballad “Little Brother” explores the cycle of violent abuse, ultimately concluding that “now I’ve become those bruises on your arms.” “Down In Carolina” is propelled along by a deliberate bass line under bright synthesizer enhancements. There’s a muted, distant quality to the vocals that add an air of mystery and depth to the track. Closing track “Context (Trans-Pecos, On A Full Moon, On A Monday)” sounds pretty much as the title suggests - this acoustic-guitar-only live track was recorded at the Queens' venue. The EP release show is Friday 6/16 at Berlin with The Undercover Dream Lovers and Rhinestone. - Dave Cromwell

We added this song to The Deli's playlist of Best Psych songs by emerging NYC artists - check it out! - Deli Magazine

Things get mystical in HNRY FLWR’s new music video for “As Above, So Below.”
Like a Miyazaki film, this video embraces nature and all its hidden spirits. Shots of a graceful deer trots through sun-spotted scenes, while HNRY FLWR becomes one with the forest that surrounds him. Also like a Miyazaki film, the video exposes the way humanity tortures its beautiful mother nature. Melodic, danceable, and devastating all in one–the song will have you swaying your hips and separating your recyclables in no time.
Dance the world clean to the premiere of HNRY FLWR’s video for “As Above, So Below!” - Alt Citizen

Hnry Flwr (Henry Flower?) seemingly has a thing about blossoming plants, professed not only with his name but also in the title of his new EP, Flowerama, which we’re very pleased to present a full stream of below. And yet his music is far from flowery. In fact, one might go as far to say that it’s the antithesis of such things, a wilted plant, left dehydrated in some desolate room, faded by the light, a distinct depiction of the relentless passing of time.

Such things, as music has so often taught us, can still be beautiful however, and Flowerama is certainly that, these weighty guitar-pop songs creeping out in to the world something like David Bazan with slightly more melodrama but just as much despondency. “It’s been a while so I think I’ll write a song that I can sing to myself,” Hugh Boylan (not “Henry Flower”) sings as the record’s foreword, and one certainly gets the sense that the following five tracks are, often powerfully, that; this songwriters’ own sentiments and demons examined and then spat-out in to the world, via a swathe of crunchy guitars and subtle key arrangements.

The opening two tracks pack a hearty punch, and even more so in retrospect once the heavyweight balladry of centre-piece ‘Little Brother‘ hits, the track’s brooding five-minutes so overwhelmingly cumbersome it’ll likely stop you in your tracks, wide-eyed and weighed down by its quiet, evocative power. ‘Down, In Carolina‘ adds nuanced synths to Hnry Flwr’s more muscular blueprint, and they shift the mood completely, the track sitting as a strung-out hangover of what preceded it.

Closing track ‘Context (Trans – Pecos, On A Full Moon, On A Monday)‘ is, an acoustic live cut/studio demo “where the meaning lies in the context”. While it misses the formidable crunch of the band that propel the other tracks forward (a band which contains members of Foxygen, A Place to Bury Strangers, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, no less) it’s still a big ol’ dash of humanity and realness that it’d be difficult to fight against it inclusion here, given that Flowerama survives – née flourishes – on such aesthetics.

A heartening and poignant collection of songs, the EP gets a full release this Friday, via our friends over at Paper Garden Records, but dig in to the whole thing below right now. - Gold Flake Paint

Here is a glamorous way to indulge the indie-pop sphere with 70’s flair. Hnry Flwry’s no stranger to the pastiche of retro, building a budding approach of playfulness with poise on his latest “As Above, So Below.” In what stands for modern esthetics and are somewhere between lo-and-high-fi, it’s this sense of excitement in Hnry Flwr’s songwriting I really welcome; it’s in his music videos, it’s in his makeup and outfits–what comes from the dustbin of that Bowie-esque New York era–is an exciting feeling that I get from his work.

Musically prepare to be met with meandering keys that sound only slightly menacing, paired strangely great next to the washed out bass and guitars, the rhythm section gallantly stays in the garage, making great DIY scenery for his baritone voice. Hnry Flwr is relatively a newcomer to the DIY NY scene, this is true, and in a burn out before you fade away scene for many, he’s gained the interests of Paper Garden Records, (aka the label with stickers all over the entirety of North Brooklyn) the local label that also represents troubadour David Thomas Broughton and Georgia-based Little Tybee.

They’re set to release his debut EP Flowerama this summer. If this is the moment his sporadic sparks of creative genius lead to the “Hnry Flwr Psychedelic Experience,” sign me up! Who doesn’t want to escape into the desert and dance around a firepit? Well, one can hope, and for anyone yearning for the feeling of something new and something old, Hnry Flwr is just hitting a stride, jump on the spaceship and let him take you away. - Elevtrtrax

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter, Hnry Flwr is preparing to release his debut EP, Flowerama on June 16th. Surviving the Golden Age is excited to premiere the single “Little Brother.” Opening with a guitar line that sounds like a chopped n screwed version of The Pixies‘ “Where is My Mind,” the track is an earnest ballad with tinges of country, shoegaze, and even a little “Free Bird.”

Lyrically, “Little Brother” deals with bullying. Of the track Flwr says “Often the first time a child feels empowered is when a younger sibling comes into their life. That power can be intoxicating– before we understand how dangerous it can be. Young humans grow up and they have to deal with the regret of bullying their younger peers, or they are compensating for their being bullied. Most kids grow up and have to deal with both those things. The reflection conjured by this song is meant to help one to move through that regret and helplessness.”

It will be interesting to see if the rest of Flowerama can match the beauty of “Little Brother.” - Surviving The Golden Age

In the late '60s, Jim Morrison, in this interview, clearly predicted the future of music, envisioning something unimaginable at the time: a one person act, using tapes and electronic equipment as his or her band. We wonder if the psychedelic icon's dream looked and sounded similar to HNRY FLWR's video for "Down, in Carolina," which we are premiering below. Even though, in it, musical instruments are nowhere to be seen, David Van Witt, the psychedelic mastermind behind the project, doesn't do anything to hide the fact that he has full control of his creative output: the video plays like a solo dance full of glam overtones and lush with sensual background projections, during which David seems to do its best to... woo himself - in a self courting ritual that's synonymous with art. Those who, like us, love the the quirky and somewhat meditative psychedelic pop of Grandaddy may have found a new friend. Hnry Flowr will be playing in quartet setup at Shea Stadium on February 10. - Deli Magazine