There’s a soft kind of honesty running through Hana Bushara‘s “5 Year Plan”, the sort that lands quietly but stays buzzing under the skin. It hit me exactly the way songs should hit on a chilly, bright Lisbon morning — that warm-cold contradiction we pretend we’re used to, but never really are.
What struck me first about “5 Year Plan” is its gentle organised chaos — the way everything feels slightly scattered yet fully alive. Hana Bushara leans into that hum of uncertainty we all carry when someone asks, “So… what’s next?” and we smile politely as if we’ve got a map tucked in our pocket. The light, effervescent rhythm gives the whole track a alt-pop pulse that’s hard not to sink into, almost hypnotic without drifting into haze. It’s pop in the most human way: fragile, bright, and quietly bold.
Reading her words about the song — this adult lullaby, this reminder that distraction isn’t failure and ambition doesn’t have to be perfectly sketched — suddenly made the whole thing click into place for me. You can hear the summer conversations with Smittei, the shared confessions about aging and direction, folded into the chords. And honestly? It feels like the kind of song I’d play while walking through Alfama under that cold sun, hands in pockets, letting the city tell me to breathe.
The visuals deepen it. Knowing that filmmaker Kayode Georges followed Hana through her everyday rituals — ferry rides, ring-putting, tree-hand shaking, Bermudian moments stitched together before a move — adds an intimacy you can almost feel in her voice. There’s a tenderness in the way the track loops, like it’s gently nudging you toward whatever step (or non-step) comes next.
About Hana Bushara:
Hana Bushara has this disarming way of turning life’s small wobbles into something warm. Her collaboration with Smittei has clearly become a kind of creative anchor for her, a place she can drop into while moving between London, Bermuda, and wherever life pulls her next. What I love is how she carries her people with her — family, friends, long-time collaborators — letting their histories shape the stories she tells. She writes with kindness, but sings with a quiet spark that makes you want to listen twice.
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