Last week, while writing about Kestrels’ Better Wonder, I mentioned Alex Edkins’ guest appearance on the track “Lilys.” That seemed like a good excuse to spend some time with Hoopla, the latest album from Edkins’ project, Weird Nightmare.

If you know him primarily through METZ, the shift can be surprising. Where that band built its reputation on noise, tension, and volume, Hoopla embraces melody with both arms, delivering a collection of power-pop songs that feel bright, immediate, and remarkably hard to shake.

Hooks first, everything else second

Released on May 1, 2026, Hoopla finds Edkins leaning fully into the kind of guitar-driven pop that values strong songwriting above all else. The influence of bands like Teenage Fanclub, The Replacements, and classic British Invasion groups is easy to hear, but the album never feels trapped by nostalgia.

Instead, it sounds like someone rediscovering the simple joy of a great hook.

Tracks such as “Headful of Rain,” “Might See You There,” and “Baby Don’t” move with a restless energy that keeps the record constantly in motion. Even when the arrangements become more layered, the songs remain focused on melody. That’s what makes them stick. The production, handled by Edkins alongside Jim Eno of Spoon, gives the album a bigger, more colorful sound than Weird Nightmare’s 2022 debut while still preserving the project’s rough-around-the-edges charm.