I already featured Hatchie in my 21st January 2022 edition of my Songs of the Week. On 22nd April 2022, she is presenting her second full album, Giving The World Away. I was really curious, how twelve songs of the Australian artists would sound alike. Here is my review.
Hatchie – About The Artist
Hatchie is a dream-pop artist from Australia. She was born on 4th May 1993 in Brisbane, her civil name is Harriette Pilbeam. Apart from being a solo artist, he is also the bassist of the Australian indie rock band Babaganouj. Under her nickname Hatchie, she released her debut single Try in 2017 and received quite some reputation for it. One year later, her debut EP Sugar & Spice followed. Her debut album Keepsake, which is dated as of June 2019, made it to the Top 25 of the Australian album charts.
Hatchie – Giving The World Away – Track by Track
The twelve song album lasts 50 minutes.
1. Lights On
The opening track is already my favorite of the whole album. It reminds me of late 1980’s and early 1990’s pop. Very good chorus and a nice song made to dance.
2. This Enchanted
This Enchanted is a nice follow-up to the opening track. The song has a stronger dream pop touch, but also comes with a strong rhythm which is driving the song.
3. Twin
Twin is a slower track, the rhythm is not as present as in the songs before. Therefore, Hatchie’s voice gets a stronger presence, almost feels angelic on top of the melody – just what the genre is about. Nice listen.
4. Take My Hand
The keyboard line in the back of the chorus and the thriving rhythm are the key elements. In the bridge, Take My Hands surprises with magazine style spoken words. Good listen, but the openers gave me an even better experience.
5. The Rhythm
I have to say that the order of tracks given in the promo package does not fully match the order of songs I received in the promo stream – thus, The Rhythm might also be the seventh track, after Quicksand and Thinking Of. The song as such is just a short episode, which has non-lyrical vocal parts as well as strumming guitar parts. The lyrical part reminds me of some 1980’s Sandra Cretu tracks.
6. Quicksand
Quicksand has been one of the single releases so far. The song works with different atmospheres, there is even a short almost-psychedelic section. I feel it is a bit too much in some parts of the track.
7. Thinking Of
Thinking Of goes back to a rather melodic style. I personally prefer that over the alternative style, e.g. of Quicksand. The song might be a bit more simple, but also more catchy by that. Good listen.
8. Giving The World Away
The title track comes with a very own style. Unfortunately, I feel that the melody is supressing the vocal part a bit too much. Nonetheless, there is a nice touch in Giving The World Away – I simply cannot deny it.
9. The Key
This section of the is more experimental and also illustrates the range of modern pop music. Hatchie is using the same melodic elements, but she and her team combines them to very different sounds. Interesting listen – the song comes with a very strong indie touch towards its end.
10. Don’t Leave Me In The Rain
After a couple of songs which leave me with ups and downs while listening, the tenth track is a good listen to me again, without any doubt. Small alterations, compared to the tracks before lead to a major change here. Unfortunately, this also means that the songs in here have strong similarities.
11. Sunday Song
The Sunday Song almost feels like a ballad in its first half. The song is very atmospheric, thoughtful. Even though it develops during its second half and becomes more powerful, it is overall a welcome contrast to the tracks before.
12. Til We Run Out Of Air
The last song of the album is also the epic finale of Giving The World Away. The song is almost six minutes and feels a bit like a musical essay of the eleven tracks before. I feel that there is a nicer focus on Hatchie’s vocals here again, which I definitely appreciate.
Hatchie – Giving The World Away – Spotify
Here is Giving The World Away on Spotify:
Hatchie – Giving The World Away – My View
Hatchie’s sophomore starts with a blast, it presents some really good ones thereafter – but then the songs simply become too similar. Individually good tracks (at least the majority of them)- but the set of twelve songs is not able to keep the promising level it presents at the beginning. Still a nice listen.
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