San Diego’s Hauntu will release their new single “Mote It Be” on August 15th, 2025, as part of the 7-band split “A 7 Step Guide To Happiness,” out October 24th on Sell The Heart Records.
The track moves at full tilt from its opening seconds and never eases off, featuring a trumpet appearance from Jason Crane (JC2000) of Rocket From The Crypt. The collaboration came about after drummer Francis Winfield remarked in the studio that “those guitars sound like horns.” The next day, guitarist Demetrius Antuña invited Crane in to record, and he finished the part in a single take.
Vocalist Rebecca Antuña describes the lyrical focus directly: “’Mote It Be’ is about the human capacity for both love and violence, and how learned hatred and intense trauma can perpetuate an endless cycle of violence and revenge.”
Hauntu’s sound carries fast, downstroked guitars in the tradition of Wipers and Hot Snakes, layered with melodic female vocals that cut through the distortion and give the band a distinct voice. Formed out of pandemic-era writing sessions, their songs reflect both urgency and a search for escape, moving between darker, heavy tones and flashes of satirical or more open moments.
The upcoming “A 7 Step Guide To Happiness” compilation will also feature exclusive tracks from Her Head’s On Fire, Neckscars, Time Spent Driving, Hotlung, Shotclock, and Bear Away. It will be available as a single-sided 12” vinyl with a custom etched b-side, limited to 100 copies, alongside a digital release.
Hauntu were featered on IDIOTEQ in December. See our previous feature HERE.
San Diego’s HAUNTU keep pushing the weight and urgency they carved out on their debut EP, this time channeling it into the volatile “Sadist Sun.” Written over two years and reworked more than any other track in their catalog, it finally snapped into place after a half-step drop in tuning. Our full feature dives into the song’s long road, its lyrical tension, and Hauntu’s place in a resurging San Diego underground alongside names like WITNESS, WITCH FACE, and VICE ALGAE.
