The Hardkiss Essentials

There’s little doubt alt-rockers The Hardkiss were meant for big things. Winning important awards early in their career, they became major players in the 2010s with a mix of progressive and electro-pop ingredients centred around Julia Sanina’s forceful, highly expressive vocals. Balancing robust hard rock with indie sensibilities and poetic metaphors about love, loss and rebirth, the band pack a punch with heavy riffage and a gripping theatricality—but also a rare melodic melancholy, in ballads anchored by swelling strings or a stripped-down acoustic guitar.