Listening to Will Paquin’s debut album, ‘Hahaha’, feels like both a reflection and a rebirth, an energetic, genre-bending journey through memory, heartbreak, and the messy joy of moving forward. Across eleven tracks, Paquin balances raw emotion with jangly riffs, buoyant melodies, and a new, grungey garage-rock sound.
Opening with ‘We Really Done It This Time’, an energetic, Western-inspired, electric guitar-driven track that charges forward with restless ambition, Paquin sets the tone for reckoning and renewal. From there, ‘Hahaha’ leans into irony with a playful but biting lyrics that laugh in the face of heartbreak, laying everything bare. Its stark lyrics and clipped melodies lend a sense of finality to the track, drawing a line under the subject matter while positioning it as a foundation for the album’s broader themes.
‘Orangutan’ brings one of the album’s standout moments: a fast-paced, guitar-driven anthem of late summer. With the album set to release on September 12th, ‘Orangutan’ seems to mirror the transition from summer into autumn, tracing Paquin’s own journey across the country in the wake of a breakup and mapping his thoughts on these changes. A false ending explodes into a wild, percussive spasm, foreshadowing the rock-fuelled intensity ahead. Yet the listener must wait – the next track, ‘Roll The Dice’, shifts gears completely into a stripped-back lullaby that feels like Paquin whispering to himself, lyrics a mantra to keep moving forward.
The indie-rock churn of ‘I Work So Hard’ is a refreshing jolt back to Paquin’s foray into an unpolished garage sound, distorted vocals and guitars bursting out in a moment of raw catharsis. Nostalgia takes the wheel in ‘Slifer The Sky Dragon’ where folksy storytelling elevates Paquin’s personal tales into timeless myths before swelling into a crashing finale. ‘Everything’ follows as a Sufjan Stevens-esque cut, with high, breathy vocals, lyrics laced in love and loss, and floating, melodious instrumentals.
The same anticipatory energy continues in ‘Gum (Do You Want Some?)’ echoing the guitar-driven playfulness of ‘Orangutan’ with fresh-faced, optimistic vocals, contrasting the indifferent teenage rebellion sound of ‘Our World Is Falling Apart’. Reminiscent of Cavetown, although the track sounds largely apathetic, Paquin never loosens his grip on capturing the sound of an uncontrollable lust for life, freedom, and change.
‘I Need To Know’ erupts with frantic urgency, channelling the impulsiveness of heartbreak, yet beneath the storm is a sense of hope as despair becomes determination and the track transforms into an uplifting anthem. The closer, ‘Jibby’s Theme’, lands softly. Quiet and pensive yet contented in its own way, it evokes the simplicity and guiding words to live by of Current Joys or Pinegrove.
Overall, ‘Hahaha’ is a melancholy, reflective album, but it is never static. Paquin harnesses electric bursts of energy to reclaim past heartbreak and turn it into forward momentum, resulting in a record that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant – the perfect companion for anyone navigating change while keeping their eyes fixed on what’s next to come.
Words: Eve Riordan
Will Paquin official
HaHaHa is released on September 12th 2025
Tracklisting
2. HaHaha
3. Orangutan
4. Roll The Dice
5. I Work So Hard
6. Slifer The Sky Dragon
7. Everything
8. Gum (Do You Want Some?)
9. Our World Is Falling Apart
10. I Need To Know
11. Jibby’s Theme
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