Hawaii: Part II
| Hawaii: Part II | |
|---|---|
| 📅 Released | December 12, 2012 |
| 🎙️ Recorded | October 2011-August 2012 |
| Studio |
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| ⏳ Length | 42:18 |
| 🤑 Producer |
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| Singles from Hawaii: Part II | |
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Buy this album Hawaii: Part II or listen to it on amazon
Hawaii: Part II is the only studio album by the group Miracle Musical (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), a sub-project of various former members of American rock band Tally Hall. It was independently released on December 12, 2012. Spearheaded by Joe Hawley, the concept album was initially conceived in 1997 before its recording began in 2011. Hawaii: Part II and its supporting standalone single "Variations on a Cloud" were creatively influenced by the September 11 attacks, telling a romantic tragedy. Upon release, the album received favorable reviews.
Background
In the summer of 1997, Joe Hawley and his family visited Hawaii. During this trip, he became motivated to create the album Hawaii: Part II, stating "I heard this music in my mind, and I knew I had to make it at some point".[1] "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" was subsequently the first song written, taken directly from the initial concept.[2] Hawley later described it as a "once-in-a-lifetime musical",[3] citing the September 11 attacks as inspiration.[4] He recorded demos of "Our Lullabye" and "Inside the Mind of Simon" in 2004, later retitled "Stranded Lullaby" and "The Mind Electric". The latter was intended for Tally Hall's debut album Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (2005) but was ultimately scrapped. Hawley then recorded the song "Matters" in January 2006, retitled "Isle Unto Thyself" for Hawaii: Part II. In the same year, bandmate Rob Cantor wrote and demoed "Time Machine",[2] performing it with Tally Hall. Cantor demoed it two more times before Hawley repurposed it for his project, and revised it once more before it appeared on the album.[5]
Another song with Cantor, "Variations on a Cloud", was first composed in 2007 as background music for a scrapped segment of Tally Hall's Internet Show. Hawley was later inspired by the Beatles and Franz Schubert to write the song "Murders", interpolating Frank Sinatra's "All or Nothing at All" for its bridge. A demo of the song was proposed for Tally Hall's second album Good & Evil (2011), but it was rejected by album producer Tony Hoffer. He later took inspiration from the Paul McCartney quote "There are seven levels" to write the track "宇宙ステーションのレベル7" (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.).[2] Soon after the sudden hiatus of Tally Hall in August of 2011, former co-lead vocalist Hawley started a side project titled Miracle Musical (Japanese: ミラクルミュージカル) to create Hawaii: Part II. He formed the project alongside Ross Federman, Tally Hall's drummer, and Bora Karaca, a session musician and producer associated with the band.[1] During the production of the album, the three never met in person, and additional personnel independently recorded their performances and submitted them to Hawley and Karaca.[6]
Release
On September 11, 2012, "Variations on a Cloud" was surprise-released as a single by Rob Cantor and Joe Hawley under the pseudonym Miracle Musical.[7] Following this, a countdown was revealed to anticipate the release of Hawaii: Part II at 12:12 PM on December 12, 2012.[8] A performance video for "Stranded Lullaby" premiered in 2013, played acoustically by Hawley on piano.[2] An album of instrumentals, demos, and alternate takes was published as Hawaii: Part II: Part ii (2014).[8] Surrounding the album's second anniversary in December 2014, Miracle Musical published music videos for "Isle Unto Thyself" and "Labyrinth", released the short adventure game Labyrinth,[2] and published a cover of "Candle on the Water".[9]
A music video for "Black Rainbows" with Federman was released on June 9, 2015, followed by a video for "Variations on a Cloud" commemorating its third anniversary on September 11.[2] An album of six chiptune renditions titled Hawaii Partii (2015) was later released as the soundtrack for Labyrinth.[9] On September 18, 2018, a one-month Kickstarter campaign was launched to fund the first vinyl pressing of the album, ultimately earning $16,544 of its $7,000 goal from 456 pledgers. A vinyl single for "Variations on a Cloud" followed in 2019. Following renewed interest as a viral song on TikTok, "Labyrinth" saw its live debut at the Blind Pig by featured artist Shane Maux on August 7, 2025.[2]
Reception
Hawaii: Part II has received positive reception in online publications. Aidan Pierstorff of The Red 'n' Green scored the album a 5 out of 5, lauding "Murders" for its fast-paced piano instrumentation and "Labyrinth" as fit to be a radio single.[10] Talon Boudreaux of The Paper Wolf complimented Hawaii: Part II's orchestral and vocal performances, comparing the composition of "White Ball" to Frank Sinatra's style and highlighting "The Mind Electric".[1] Grant Hinders of SHS Today similarly extensively praised the album, calling it a prominent example of juxtapositioning newer production methods and techniques with older styles.[8] Ace Richards of KP Times enjoyed the progression of Hawaii: Part II's love story, describing it as "extremely well crafted and creative",[11] while Matteo Sohn of Maroon likened this to a favorable use of open interpretation to draw listeners in.[4]
Petra Rouhana of The Monthly Roar compared the album's rock opera style to My Chemical Romance's discography, commending the narrative's focus on mental health.[12] The psychiatry publication Mad in America picked "The Mind Electric" as their song of the week in October 2026, spotlighting its depiction of torture and reversed first-half for its symbolization of insanity.[13] Hawaii: Part II has since gained a cult following,[8] with the track "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" amassing over a 110 million on-demand Spotify streams by April 2025.[10] Another song from the album which achieved popularity on TikTok and other social media is "Murders".[5]
Track listing
All tracks written by Joe Hawley, except where noted.
| Hawaii: Part II track listing | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 1. | "Introduction to the Snow" | 1:41 | |
| 2. | "Isle Unto Thyself" | 3:47 | |
| 3. | "Black Rainbows" |
| 2:29 |
| 4. | "White Ball" |
| 3:35 |
| 5. | "Murders" | 3:42 | |
| 6. | "宇宙ステーションのレベル7" |
| 3:23 |
| 7. | "The Mind Electric" | 6:13 | |
| 8. | "Labyrinth" |
| 2:32 |
| 9. | "Time Machine" |
| 4:12 |
| 10. | "Stranded Lullaby" |
| 3:40 |
| 11. | "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" |
| 7:00 |
| Total length: | 42:18 | ||
| Physical release bonus track | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 0. | "Variations on a Cloud" |
| 3:10 |
| Total length: | 45:28 | ||
| Digital exclusive track | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
| 12. | "Candle on the Water" |
| 3:15 |
| Total length: | 48:43 | ||
Personnel
Miracle Musical
- Joe Hawley[lower-alpha 1] – lead vocals (0–3, 5, 7, 9–11), electric guitar (2, 4, 7, 11), acoustic guitar (2, 6, 11), ukulele (3), additional mixing (7), harmonica (9), instruments (12), piano, production, drum programming (all tracks), cover artwork, art direction and design
- Ross Federman[lower-alpha 1] – drums, drum engineering (2, 4, 7), drum programming, production, mixing (all tracks)
- Bora Karaca – additional vocals (0, 2, 3, 7, 11), bağlama (3), accordion, castanets (4), bass guitar (5, 6, 10), electric guitar (5, 8), piano programming (5), lead vocals (6), vocoded electric guitar (9), whistling, production, recording engineer (all tracks), cover artwork
Technical
- Roman Vail – mastering engineer
- Benjamin Collins – drum engineering (2, 4, 7)
- Joachim Horsley – conductor
- Dan Durda – cover artwork
- Susan Holloway – cover artwork
Additional musicians
- Rob Cantor[lower-alpha 1] – lead vocals (0, 9), acoustic guitar (0), vocoder programming (9)
- Gregory James Jenkins – additional vocals (0, 11)
- Lindsey Alvarez – additional vocals (0)
- Stephanie Wunderlich – additional vocals (0)
- Cyndi Lynott – french horn (1)
- Andrew Kurtz – additional vocals (2)
- Ashley Renee – additional vocals (2)
- Ryan Brady – bass guitar (2, 4, 7), moog (3, 7)
- Madi Diaz – lead vocals (3)
- Nik Frank-Lehrer – additional vocals (3)
- Andrew Laurich – additional vocals (3)
- Ryan Scott – additional vocals (3)
- Zubin Sedghi[lower-alpha 1] – lead vocals (4)
- Stephanie Koenig – lead vocals (4), additional vocals (6, 7, 11)
- Jay Golden – violin (4, 5)
- Alyson Montez – violin (4, 5)
- Adrianne Nigg – additional vocals (6, 7)
- Joe J. Dahl – additional vocals (7)
- Shane Maux – lead vocals (8)
- Charlene Kaye – lead vocals (8)
- Allison Hanna – additional vocals (10)
- Laurel Stucky - lead vocals (12)
- Robert Chesnick - additional vocals, instruments (12)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedWolf - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Citation needed.
- ↑ LemonWire (December 8, 2018). "Song of the Day: "Black Rainbows"". LemonWire. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMaroon - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Larson, Sarah (November 9, 2020). "Hawaii: Part II Album Review". Dakota Student. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ Federman, Ross (December 12, 2017). "Today marks the five year anniversary of an album". Facebook (Facebook post). Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ↑ Becker, Sarah (April 13, 2024). "Revisiting Tally Hall's surprise hit "Hidden in the Sand"". AudioPhix. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Hinders, Grant (February 6, 2020). "Hawaii: Part II – A Hidden Masterpiece". SHS Today. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Becker, Sarah (April 26, 2024). "Joe Hawley faces legal issues on thrilling self-titled album". AudioPhix. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Pierstorff, Aidan (April 9, 2025). "Music Review: "Hawaii: Part II" by Miracle Musical a conglomeration of music genres". The Red 'n' Green. Retrieved October 12, 2026.
- ↑ Richards, Ace (November 24, 2023). "'Hawaii: Part II' still resonates with fans almost 11 years later". KP Times. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
- ↑ Rouhana, Petra (May 26, 2026). "An In-Depth Analysis of the Music from Hawaii Part II". The Monthly Roar. Retrieved October 12, 2026.
- ↑ "The Mind Electric by ミラクルミュージカル (Miracle Musical)". Mad in America. October 11, 2026. Retrieved October 13, 2026.
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