Singled Out: Hot4Robot's Just Human

'Just Human' single art

Hot4Robot just released their new single "Just Human" from their new unplugged live album "Just Human" and to celebrate we asked Alex Radus to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

I started writing songs for Hot4Robot before the band was named. An interesting sequence because we were able to connect the band name to what we were writing about in a really intentional way. Apparently, I had a lot to say about humanity and technology. "Just Human" became the thematic heart of our music, and the band name followed. We write about other stuff of course, but it was a really fertile launchpad.

It's easy to mistake tech for a current issue. Writing the song, I reflected on how we've been doing this dance for eons. Whether it's fire, the wheel, telescopes, the printing press, gun powder, or AI, our desire to transcend human limitations drives us to innovate relentlessly. Some have been game changers, redefining what being human means, so it's sort of this feedback loop. Is this a natural part of being human? Or does it threaten the very definition of humanity?

I wanted to explore that in a nonjudgmental way - just look at it, curiously. What came out in the songwriting is whimsical ("turn our hearts into drum machines...hook a double kick pedal to a battery"), hopeful ("turn our eyes into telescopes...we wanna see what the Big Bang wrote") and melancholy ("nobody wanna be just human...make me an airplane"). All traits that I associate with the role of tech in our lives.

I wrote Just Human when my daughter was a few months old. And I remember the verse about kids really hitting me:

Let our children never know disease
We wanna create genetic dynasties
Take the mistakes out of their DNA
And they'll grow taller than Sequoia trees

And because I had an infant sleeping (hopefully!) in the house, I had to write the song super quietly - so I wrote it on an electric guitar with no amp. I have video of me playing it to her when she was in one of those automatic baby rockers (see? tech solution!).

Despite that writing environment, what I was hearing in my head was epic and soaring, and I think we achieved that in the studio version. Dave Cahill's guitar on the chorus is one of my favorite parts of the whole album - a sonic recreation of an airplane taking off just as the vocals wail "make me an airplane!"

Since Just Human was an unanticipated fan favorite from our studio release, we wanted it to be the lead single for the unplugged album. What hit us about the unplugged version, is that it's just as intense but in a totally different way. Stripping it down to an acoustic feel gives the song an intimacy and vulnerability that drives home the theme - maybe even better than the studio version? And I absolutely love Robbie Sko's piano solo, which is super haunting and perfect for the song.

Final note: I'm OK at music theory, but it's not something I focus a lot on when I'm writing. I just get a melody and a groove and go with it. So I'm not really sure when I realized the verses to this song are in 7/4. It wasn't intentional and the song flows well - so it's not obviously in an odd time signature. Kudos to our amazing drummer Andy Janowiak for making it sound so smooth you barely notice!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here

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