For a band that had been on a three-year roll, things couldn’t have gone much worse for the Happy Fits over the span of about 10 months. Founding member Ross Monteith made an abrupt exit from the group, and drummer Luke Davis’s battle with booze landed him in AA and on a therapist’s coach. Singer and classically trained cellist Calvin Langman, meanwhile, was sorting through a life-alerting breakup.
As artists are wont to do, much of that collective adversity was funneled into their latest LP, Lovesick (Happy Fits/Diamond City/Many Hats), which marks the Spotify darlings’ first album with Nico Rose and Raina Mullen on guitar and vocals. The lineup change has brought a fresh energy to the live show, especially with a sober Davis back on the kit and Langman still wielding his cello. On album, the revamped quartet makes loss, grief and renewal sound like a sunny stroll on the High Line. Borrowing a few moves from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, Arcade Fire and the Cars, Lovesick rings every drop of joy from the sadness.
Days before the launch of the Happy Fits’ global tour, MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland grabbed a few minutes with Langman.
Lovesick is the Happy Fits’ first album in three years. Tell us more about what’s been going on in the band’s world over that long break.
We’ve been living through so much change in the past three years. There’s been a lineup change, with our original guitarist leaving in early 2024 and Nico and Raina joining. Personally, I went through a breakup of a seven-year relationship and moved out of our old headquarters in Easton, Pa., to Brooklyn in late 2023. Then, in April of this year, I moved to Philadelphia and opened my own recording studio, Langman Music Gallery, right in the heart of Philly by Franklin Music Hall.
It’s almost like a new band with the addition of Rose and Mullen. How have they impacted the Happy Fits’ sound and chemistry?
It’s been so awesome being able to incorporate an extra guitar and two female vocals into our signature sound. In terms of vibe, they’re just fantastic people who are easy to communicate with, making collaboration such a fun experience.
Tell us about the recording process for Lovesick.
The bulk of Lovesick was tracked in Woodstock, N.Y., at Applehead Recording. It’s this large converted barn that makes guitars and drums sound massive. That was one of my goals with co-producer Ayad Al Adhamy—to make a huge-sounding record. Our other three LPs were recorded at Ayad’s Diamond City Studio (in Brooklyn). We ended up tracking vocals and the Lovesick orchestra there.
What are your takeaways from the Philadelphia scene so far?
We’ve always loved playing in Philly, so we already had a lot of history here, from basement shows to playing the Foundry and Union Transfer to filming our music video for “Everything You Do” at First Unitarian Church. The city is so alive and so inspiring all the time—and it still feels way more accessible than New York City.
In light of all you’ve been through recently, did the songwriting on Lovesick serve as a therapeutic vehicle?
As I was living in Brooklyn and writing a majority of this record, I was experiencing all those fanciful feelings I hadn’t felt since I was 18—falling in love, desperation, lust, etc. It reminded me of when I was young and naive and started this band, and it brought me back to a simpler, more authentic form of songwriting. On the other side of the coin, I was still coming to terms with the end of the seven-year relationship. A lot of the songs on this record served as an outlet to express my guilt and fear—and the words I wished I’d said.
See the Happy Fits live.
