Formed in the countryside of Athens, Georgia in 2020, Hiding Places have since moved to Brooklyn and found a space blending troubadour storytelling with luscious guitar sounds. A four piece made up of songwriters and guitarists Audrey Keelin and Nicholas Byrne plus drummer Henry Cutting and bassist/producer Michal Matsakis, the band navigate their mid-to-late 20s while trying to answer the question posed in the album’s title – what is the secret to good living?

The intriguingly titled ‘Dead Dove (Your Love Was Never a Waste of Time)’ opens the album with slacker style before moving into something more art pop a la Deerhoof or Xiu Xiu, before ‘Holly Roller’ brings in the big riffs, noise and declaration that ‘I guess I’ll be fine’. ‘One Hand’ opens in more genteel fashion, the band starting off full of regret: ‘I took too long’. As the sound begins to resemble Broken Social Scene going country, there’s even more honesty – ‘I want to win, just like they did’ – and then a perfectly pitched guitar solo to boot.

‘Waiting’ has more of an alt-rock sound and dual vocals talking about ‘broken glass beside the highway’ before the title track moves into chamber pop with raw emotions on show: ‘How did you feel about that?’ ‘Heat Lightning’ has a twinkly emo intro, complete with brooding bass and chiming guitars while ‘Pile of Thought’ offers sounds of nature, a restrained atmospherics and repeats of the words: ‘I woke up’.

‘Forget It All’ closes the record with a tender touch, all swaying melodies that – like so much of the rest of this record – might just crack what the secret to good living actually is…