Exclusive First Listen preview: HUNNI break out with debut banger Heartbeat

All it takes is one song. HUNNI, a debut pop group from the North East, may have entered your TV screens as Jen & Liv, winning the last series of The Voice UK, but they'll be entering your hearts (and burrowing into your eardrums) under an entirely new alias.

Their first release as HUNNI, Heartbeat, will be released via Universal this Friday (April 19) is one way to get the party started - the musical equivalent of starting a conversation by being slapped in the face.

Lead by Jen and Liv's own creative direction and soaked in the vibes of mid-2000s bangers produced by the likes of Timbaland, one of the biggest inspirations between Heartbeat's look, feel and vibe even gets a direct shout-out on the track.

'I can be promiscuous like I'm Nelly Furtado,' they coo, paying tribute to the Canadian icon's 2006 pop bible Loose. 'You got me thinking, you got me drinking...'til my heart beats out my chest...'

Reality TV show winners are not supposed to make music that sounds like this. In much the same way that Girls Aloud defied pre-conceived expectations of becoming a lesser version of, say, Atomic Kitten when they debuted Sound of the Underground more than 20 years ago, we think HUNNI have pretty much pulled off the same move here.

Heartbeat's equally great music video sees the girls serving for the gods (in a club once used to film Geordie Shore no less!) and putting their best pop star foot forward. If that wasn't enough to get you invested, the entire video was shot and staffed with a crew and dancers from the girls's native North East.

As HUNNI embark on a bold new, banger-filled era we caught up with Jen and Liv to discuss their debut single...and what to expect next.

Hello girls! You're doing something quite 'against the grain' in modern pop music - launching with the banger! Normally you would lead up to this!

Liv: We just thought...go big or go home, you know? Obviously, we wanted to [start with] something people will remember. Coming off The Voice, people will be wondering what we're going to do and what our next step is. We just want to be like: this is us. We're here!

Jen: On The Voice, it was great and all the songs we did on there were great...but they were covers. We were so eager to just create our own sound and who HUNNI actually is. We just went for it. We took no prisoners!

Obviously, before this you were known as Jen and Liv, now you're HUNNI...what necessitated the change?

Jen: When we started busking, we just thought it was easier to use our names, then we got on The Voice and all of a sudden it was...here's Jen and Liv!

The new name is much better, by the way

Jen: Thanks! There's many reasons for the name. Me and Liv come from different backgrounds and different musical inspirations but there is one particular film of one particular era we both love...

That wouldn't be the Jessica Alba classic Honey, would it?

Jen: It would! We're both so inspired by that era of, like, the mid-2000s. We also wanted something that spoke to where we came from [in the North East]. Hinni was suggested because that's quite Geordie...so we just put a U in instead of an I. 

Heartbeat by HUNNI is out April 19 via UMG.