Bully Hay lays his heart bare with his sophomore album Anywhere But Here. At its core this is a break-up album, but describing it as such doesn’t quite convey all that makes this collection of songs one of the best you’ll hear this year.
After all, albums based around themes of love and loss are a dime a dozen. But few have the grittiness and soul of Bully Hay’s latest release. His voice soars on the opening rock anthems “Lovers Get High” and “If You Can’t Forgive Me, Forgive Yourself” before drawing you in with a heartbreaking acoustic rendition of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” This song has seeped into the public consciousness since its feature in Stranger Things, but I promise you’ve never heard it quite like this. While I’ve appreciated versions from Placebo and Meg Myers, this has become the definitive cover for me. It’s one of three “acoustic versions” on this album, but these aren’t the only songs stripped back. Songs like “Trinkets and Coal” and the haunting closer “Here it Comes Again” are also gentle folk numbers that showcase Bully Hay’s impressive vocals and unfiltered lyrics. These quieter moments provide the perfect counterpoints to cathartic rock songs like “Another Lost Soldier” and “Talk Me Off the Edge.”
Anywhere But Here goes beyond the standard break-up album because it doesn’t wallow in that post-relationship limbo. Its powerful songs instead deal with moving forward any way you can, the struggle that comes from putting one foot in front of the other when the ground has collapsed from underneath you. It’s about surviving the fallout, resilience, and the human spirit.
Anywhere But Here is out now. Bully Hay will mark the release with the following Tasmanian shows:
4 April 2026 – The Pier, Lutruwita/Ulverstone
25 April 2026 – The Royal Oak Hotel, Letteremairrener Country/Launceston
26 April 2026 – Longley International Hotel, Nipaluna/Hobart
5 July 2026 – Festival of Voices, Nipaluna/Hobart
Images used with permission from Empire Music Promotions
