Hatchie - Giving the World Away Music Album Reviews

Hatchie - Giving the World Away Music Album Reviews
The Australian dream-pop artist’s second album widens her sparkly shoegaze into a brasher, more ambitious sound, locating the edge between noise and melody.

Harriette Pilbeam, who records under the name Hatchie, wants to make something clear: She writes more than just love songs. Don’t be fooled by the Australian dream-pop artist’s past work, which drifted in a gauzy haze of guitar and synths and relied on a revolving door of lyrical clichés—kissing the stars, staying true to your heart, etc. The pandemic caused Pilbeam to confront long-buried anxieties and insecurities, a process that made her question her future in music. Her second full-length album, Giving the World Away, explores these afflictions with an exacting, if not heavy-handed, touch, mushrooming her once sparkly shoegaze into a brasher, more ambitious sound.

With help from Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Caroline Polachek), Jorge Elbrecht (Sky Ferreira, Japanese Breakfast), and Beach House drummer James Barone, Giving the World Away is a maze of fuzz and reverb, chugging guitars, airy synths, and delightfully weird percussion. The strongest moments on the album balance restraint and exaltation, like on “This Enchanted,” which takes house piano and slithering bass and builds it into a shoegaze anthem, its chorus drowning in distorted guitar and drums. Another standout, “Quicksand,” begins with a low-slung guitar riff that explodes into an ebullient electro pop hook. At its best, Giving the World Away locates the edge between noise and melody, carving out a pop core amid seemingly structureless arrangements.

The songwriting here is a stark improvement from past Hatchie projects, and compellingly surveys some of early adulthood’s most disorienting challenges: dependency issues, fear of commitment, the pain of seeing but not being seen. “Quicksand” offers a devastating insight into the loss of hope and optimism that comes with aging: “I used to think that this was something I could die for/I hate admitting to myself that I was never sure.” The giddy innocence of Pilbeam’s previous work feels like a distant dream; she’s nearing 30, staring at life with a more discerning eye, searching for meaning beyond a belief in soulmates and destiny.

Occasionally, the deluge of instrumentation grates. “Twin” ambles in sleepy melodies without release, while the album’s title track remains static from start to finish. The production is impressive, but it’s also a lot, and Pilbeam’s voice can get lost within the spacious set designs. And though the emotions are sophisticated, the lyrics tend toward on-the-nose observations that attenuate the tension: “Lost sight of who I’m supposed to be/But within the chaos I can see I’m not me,” she sings on “The Key.” The album hits harder when Pilbeam lets you feel the weight of her anxiety, but often she opts for a definitive tone that leaves little to the imagination.

Near the album’s end, on “Sunday Song,” Pilbeam’s gifts coalesce. The song breathes in a way few others on Giving the World Away do, a cathartic experience for a record obsessed with stuffing as many riffs and rhythms atop each other as possible. But here the production pares back and Pilbeam lands on a deftly complicated sentiment: “All the things you wish you hadn’t said/Sick of waiting for something heaven sent/Can’t you see all that I see in you?” Despite its flaws, Giving the World Away marks an exciting evolution for Hatchie—she still wants love, but now she also wants to dance, to feel, to find balance within life’s unending madness.

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About Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera

Hey, I'm Perera! I will try to give you technology reviews(mobile,gadgets,smart watch & other technology things), Automobiles, News and entertainment for built up your knowledge.
Hatchie - Giving the World Away Music Album Reviews Hatchie - Giving the World Away Music Album Reviews Reviewed by Wanni Arachchige Udara Madusanka Perera on April 29, 2022 Rating: 5

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