Happiness, Unfiltered

There’s something quietly disarming about Paul Louis Villani’s “Makes Me Happy.” It doesn’t burst through the speakers demanding attention. Instead, it draws you in, like you’ve just stepped into a small room in Melbourne where a lone musician is baring his soul with nothing but a guitar and a pulse of conviction.

Villani handles everything himself — writing, recording, shaping the sound — and you can feel that singular vision in every second. The production is intentionally intimate, almost tactile. You hear the breath between phrases, the slight grain in the vocals, the human edges that most artists try to sand away. Here, they’re the point. The result feels less like a studio track and more like a moment shared.

Thematically, “Makes Me Happy” leans into friendship and the strange, complicated ways people shape our lives. It treats happiness not as a trophy at the end of healing, but as a decision — something chosen even when life is messy. That emotional honesty gives the song its weight. It’s reflective without being self-pitying, vulnerable without collapsing into sentimentality.

There’s also a subtle modern twist in Villani’s vocal processing, adding a fresh texture to the classic singer-songwriter foundation. Yet nothing feels overworked. It’s raw, personal, and proudly so.

“Makes Me Happy” stands as a testament to creative independence — imperfect, heartfelt, and utterly sincere.