Bas & The Hics: The must-stream ‘Melanchronica’ album is the only thing you need right now

It’s no secret - I love beautiful music and getting the combination of Bas plus The Hics for their Melanchronica project? My goodness.

An absolute audio gem and it slaps from start to finish. Completely geek out over this work of art.

Multi-GRAMMY Award-nominated Dreamville artist Bas and London-based duo The Hics unveil their long-awaited collaborative album, Melanchronica, out now via Dreamville/FIENDS. Nearly a decade in the making, the project is a genre-defying, emotionally rich meditation on the complexities of modern life, crafted across five cities and born from years of creative evolution and mutual respect, with collaborations from Ab-Soul, Saba, and Domani. Listen HERE.

With a soundscape that is both nostalgic and future-facing, Melanchronica embodies expansive textures of 1970s progressive rock, glossy synths of 1980s pop, and the raw soul of 1990s hip-hop and R&B. The album moves fluidly through grief, longing, burnout, and self-reflection, all the quiet, internal weight we rarely name but deeply feel. Bas is writing from a more introspective, grounded place, while The Hics push their production into new territory. Bas calls Melanchronica a soundtrack to the “downtrodden modern human condition,” capturing the overstimulated, emotionally maxed-out person grasping for connection, clarity, and peace in a world that won’t slow down. For Sam, it’s a sonic snapshot of where his head’s been the past decade. Roxane sees it as a nostalgic haze where melancholy meets the chronic, resulting in something reflective, cinematic, and raw.

The focus track, “Four Walls,” is the central pulse of Melanchronica, a stripped-down, soul-baring contemplation on love unraveling in real time. Bas and The Hics write from a place of quiet devastation, circling feelings of regret, isolation, and the ache of still wanting someone who’s drifting away–capturing that haunting in-between space where memory lingers but the future feels out of reach. The video drops Thursday evening, June 19, 2025.

In speaking to the album’s themes and emotional landscape, Bas and The Hics reveal their personal connection to Melanchronica:

“To me personally, 'Melanchronica' speaks to our modern human condition, the longing for genuine emotional connection in an overstimulated, ultra-technologically connected, apathetic, and increasingly individualistic society,” says Bas. “It’s the thoughts that linger when we detach from it all and take an honest look at ourselves and our surroundings. There’s a range of emotions expressed faithfully. I want the listener to experience them all on this journey. To connect to the music in a meaningful, honest, and vulnerable way. The albums that evoked that from me are the ones I revisit most and occupy a very special place. I want this album to take its place in that pantheon.” 

“To me, the album defines chronic melancholy and intense awareness of the yin and yang of life,” says lead vocalist Roxane Barker of The Hics. “As I look back now, I realize this album is kinda me learning to express myself without fear of judgment – judgment of myself and judgment from others. So because of that, I hope it inspires people to also do that through art, movement, or whatever gets you closer to your true self. I hope people will hear the album and feel moved to speak what’s in their hearts and, without fear, be able to express love and support for one another.”

Sam Paul Evans, also of The Hics, adds: “For me, 'Melanchronica' means a case of ‘chronic melancholy.’ It could also represent a new genre of music. When we hit that 10-track mark, I was looking for something to define the general mood of the project. I loved how simply being in a state of chronic melancholy, forming 'Melanchronica,' summarized that perspective. For those who’ve followed the journey of how Bas and The Hics came together, this project is a testament to the true power of collaboration, communication, and friendship.”