Ukrainian rock heavyweights The Hardkiss have joined forces with British alt-metal crew The Hara on ‘I Love You‘, the only UK and Ukraine team-up on The Hardkiss’ forthcoming album Grey Hound, due 11th June. It pushes the band further into heavier, industrial-driven modern rock.
Formed in 2011, The Hardkiss have become one of Ukraine’s biggest modern rock acts, built on arena-scale shows, award-winning releases and touring across Europe and North America. ‘I Love You‘ fuses metal and industrial textures into a dark, high-intensity love song about emotional dependency, built on stark vocal contrast. Josh Taylor of The Hara delivers raw aggression while Julia Sanina provides the melodic counterweight, the tension between vulnerability and force giving the track its charge.
Sanina explains how it came together. “For Grey Hound we really wanted a collab that would bring some explosive male energy and extra vocal drive into the album. One day we randomly saw The Hara on Instagram and instantly loved the vibe of the whole band and Josh’s voice of course,” she says. “We texted them first, and they replied super-fast. Honestly, from the first idea to the finished song, it took less than a month. These days a lot of artists feel pretty closed off when it comes to collaborations, so we’re really happy this one happened so naturally and turned into such a powerful track.”
Taylor was just as quick to commit. “Collaborating with The Hardkiss has been an absolute epic time. They sent over their demo idea, and I was instantly invested so the same day I got on the mic and wrote and recorded my parts for the song,” he says. “I had so much fun shooting the music video with Val and Julia too who are just the loveliest people to work with. It’s a genuine headline set festival banger so make sure you play this one on full volume.”
The Hara have had a meteoric rise of late, with their album The Fallout landing in January and main stage sets at Reading and Leeds under their belt. Both bands hit a string of festivals this summer, The Hardkiss heading to Wacken Open Air and Greenfield among others.
We love the cross-border energy here. Pairing Sanina’s soaring melodies with Taylor’s bite makes for exactly the kind of high-drama anthem built for a festival field at full volume.
