Hatchie — Keepsake (June 21, 2019)
⊥⊥• Co se týče názvu alba s Lake Schatz, Hatchie řekla o Keepsake: „Bylo to slovo, které se objevilo v jedné z písní „Kiss the Stars“. Mluvím o udržení srdce jako památky a mínila jsem, že je to opravdu pěkné. Mám doma spoustu drobných pamětí a vzpomínek. Myslela jsem, že tohle album bude památkou, tak trochu jako časová kapsle této doby v mém životě. Takže to má smysl. V té době jsem o tom příliš nepřemýšlela, což je dobré, protože jsem se bála, že bych se tím mučila. Moc se mi líbilo, že pojmenovat album Keepsake bylo snadné rozhodnutí.“
• Opět pracuje s producentem Johnem Castleem (který spolupracoval na debutu „Sugar a Spice“ v roce 2018), umělkyně z Brisbane, známá jako Harriette Pilbeam, se odebrala do domácího studia v Melbourne, aby nahrála Keepsake. Poté, co se vydalo mnoho prohlášení po vydání Sugar a Spice EP s jeho bujnými, swoony melodiemi a hypnotickými vrstvami zvuku, Hatchie představuje další krok svým debutovým celovečerním albem Keepsake — průzkumným dobrodružstvím, které čerpá z industrialu přes novou vlnu až po jemné nuance popu, obklopené nenápadnou elegancí a čistým, silným pocitem. Kaleidoskopická zvuková paleta po celou dobu Keepsake čerpá z výrazných nálad a tónů, odhalující hloubku a představivost hudebníka i skladatele písní — synthpop, pulzující rytmy, kaskádové kytary a naprosto fascinující vokály v celé šíři alba. Slouží to nakonec jako dokument kinetického období života Hatchie.
• Australian indie singer~songwriter who infuses her dreamy synth pop with early~‘90s shoegaze influences.
Born: May, 1993 in Brisbane, Australia
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Styles: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Alternative/Indie Rock
Album release: June 21, 2019
Record Label: Heavenly/Double Double Whammy/Ivy League Records
Duration: 45:15
Tracks:
01 Not That Kind 3:51
02 Without a Blush 4:59
03 Her Own Heart 3:55
04 Obsessed 5:14
05 Unwanted Guest 4:56
06 Secret 4:04
07 Kiss the Stars 4:11
08 Stay With Me 4:55
09 When I Get Out 4:33
10 Keep 4:37
Credits:
• Produced & Mixed by John Castle
• Mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering
Review
Reminiscent dream pop keeps pulling you back in.
From the Cocteau Twins to the Sundays, the Brisbane artist wears her references on her sleeve — and delivers a wistful, irresistible debut.
Andrew Stafford, 21 Jun 2019 04.55 BST; Score: ***
• No music writer will win any prizes for pointing out where Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, is coming from. Not to do so though would be ignoring the elephant in the room. Right down to the blurred cover photo, no one familiar with the dream~pop of the Cocteau Twins, the Sundays, Lush or My Bloody Valentine will find anything especially new about Keepsake, the Brisbane singer~songwriter’s debut album.
• But with that out of the way, dwelling on those influences — influences which Pilbeam herself has acknowledged — also misses the point. If you are already conversant with those aforementioned acts, there is much to like here. If you aren’t, it hardly matters: everything old is new again. Keepsake’s lead single Without a Blush has already notched over 750,000 Spotify streams; Sure, from last year’s Sugar and Spice EP, has clocked 3.5 million (including a remix by the Cocteaus’ Robin Guthrie).
• What’s made Hatchie jump out of the pack is her voice. Even drenched in endless layers of effects and reverb, it’s got a keening, yearning quality that cuts right through Keepsake’s washed~out guitar textures, and the background hubbub of any cafe or club in which it appears. Even when the overall sound of Keepsake drifts hazily into the background — and it often does — Pilbeam’s timbre and phrasing keeps pulling you back in.
• That said, getting the full rewards out of Keepsake takes some persistence. While Pilbeam and John Castle have done their best to mix things up with different rhythmic textures, electronic, dance and classic indie~rock sounds, your first experience of Keepsake is likely to be a sonic blur as it passes by. Even as that mesmerising, insistent voice keeps beckoning you, it takes a little time for the 10 songs to differentiate themselves.
• Without a Blush, at first, comes off like the exception that proves the rule. Its hook immediately recalls the backing vocals of My Bloody Valentine’s 1991 classic Soon, but the longer it goes, the bigger and more enveloping this song becomes; when Hatchie sings “I didn’t want to end the dream”, I didn’t want it to either. Similarly, the chiming guitars and cascading vocal trills of Her Own Heart are reminiscent of a lost Sundays gem — but it’s just a good song, and Harriet Wheeler’s voice has been lost to the pop world for too long anyway.
• It’s in Keepsake’s middle tracks that Hatchie begins punching holes in her own dream~pop web. Obsessed features a programmed dance rhythm and a mantra~like lyric to fit the title. Secret is the closest thing to straight pop, and it’s irresistible: when Hatchie asks if you can keep a secret, it works because it draws the listener closer; you’re being invited to share an intimacy.
• Two songs more clearly point to Hatchie’s likely future. Unwanted Guest is a 1980s~style floor~filler that comes on, bizarrely, like a lost cousin of Wang Chung’s Dance Hall Days. Even more convincing is the dance~floor pop of Stay With Me — a hit Kylie Minogue might kill for. It’s the best vocal turn on the album. “I feel nothing, I feel numb,” Pilbeam sings, but her voice, at its most melancholy and wistful, betrays her longing.
• The obvious reference points of Hatchie’s debut album are only a problem if you let them be. She’s a smart songwriter, with time on her side to forge a more distinctive identity. In the meantime, as Wilde’s aphorism tells us, talent borrows; genius steals. • https://www.theguardian.com/
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares; Score: ****
• On her debut EP, Sugar & Spice, Hatchie’s ultra~catchy take on dream pop was so perfectly realized that it was hard to tell how she could improve — or expand — on it. Though her approach isn’t as novel as it was before, Harriette Pillbeam’s music sounds better than ever on Keepsake. She spends the first half of her debut album showing just how much she can change things up while keeping the honeyed melodies and soaring choruses that are vital to the Hatchie sound. On “Not That Kind,” she strips away some of Sugar & Spice’s hazy guitars in favor of distorted drums and wide~open spaces that add drama to its candy~coated yearning; later, “Unwanted Guest” proves her music isn’t all sweetness and light, with a hefty rhythm section and towering, shimmering riffs providing an unexpected and welcome edge. On the album’s luminous second half, Hatchie returns to the more familiar terrain of Sugar & Spice with the strummy ballads “When I Get Out” and “Kiss the Stars” as well as the irresistible finale “Keep.” She also finds new nuances within her blend of dream pop and pop with a capital P — somehow, “Without a Blush’”s swooning guitars and vocals have as much in common with Curve’s “Coast Is Clear” as they do with Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” while “Stay with Me” proves she’s as capable of epic emotional climaxes as any chart~topping artist. Throughout Keepsake, Pillbeam develops the flair for pairing widescreen sounds with down~to~earth lyrics that she hinted at on Sugar & Spice. “Obsessed” is a standout, not only for its nagging arpeggiated synth hook, but for the clever way she dismisses her feelings while hinting at how deep they run. By contrast, “Her Own Heart” is unabashedly earnest and, with its clouds of guitars and piles of harmonies, one of the album’s prettiest moments. As Hatchie exceeds the expectations set by Sugar & Spice, Keepsake reflects her growth into an even more confident and varied artist.
Bandcamp: https://hatchie.bandcamp.com/album/keepsake
Also:
BY BEN KAYEON JUNE 21, 2019, 3:45PM
• https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/06/hatchie-keepsake-track-by-track-stream/
Label: https://heavenlyemporium.com/
Details: http://www.dbldblwhmmy.com/products/636812-hatchie-keepsake
______________________________________________
• Opět pracuje s producentem Johnem Castleem (který spolupracoval na debutu „Sugar a Spice“ v roce 2018), umělkyně z Brisbane, známá jako Harriette Pilbeam, se odebrala do domácího studia v Melbourne, aby nahrála Keepsake. Poté, co se vydalo mnoho prohlášení po vydání Sugar a Spice EP s jeho bujnými, swoony melodiemi a hypnotickými vrstvami zvuku, Hatchie představuje další krok svým debutovým celovečerním albem Keepsake — průzkumným dobrodružstvím, které čerpá z industrialu přes novou vlnu až po jemné nuance popu, obklopené nenápadnou elegancí a čistým, silným pocitem. Kaleidoskopická zvuková paleta po celou dobu Keepsake čerpá z výrazných nálad a tónů, odhalující hloubku a představivost hudebníka i skladatele písní — synthpop, pulzující rytmy, kaskádové kytary a naprosto fascinující vokály v celé šíři alba. Slouží to nakonec jako dokument kinetického období života Hatchie.
• Australian indie singer~songwriter who infuses her dreamy synth pop with early~‘90s shoegaze influences.
Born: May, 1993 in Brisbane, Australia
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Styles: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Alternative/Indie Rock
Album release: June 21, 2019
Record Label: Heavenly/Double Double Whammy/Ivy League Records
Duration: 45:15
Tracks:
01 Not That Kind 3:51
02 Without a Blush 4:59
03 Her Own Heart 3:55
04 Obsessed 5:14
05 Unwanted Guest 4:56
06 Secret 4:04
07 Kiss the Stars 4:11
08 Stay With Me 4:55
09 When I Get Out 4:33
10 Keep 4:37
Credits:
• Produced & Mixed by John Castle
• Mastered by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering
Review
Reminiscent dream pop keeps pulling you back in.
From the Cocteau Twins to the Sundays, the Brisbane artist wears her references on her sleeve — and delivers a wistful, irresistible debut.
Andrew Stafford, 21 Jun 2019 04.55 BST; Score: ***
• No music writer will win any prizes for pointing out where Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, is coming from. Not to do so though would be ignoring the elephant in the room. Right down to the blurred cover photo, no one familiar with the dream~pop of the Cocteau Twins, the Sundays, Lush or My Bloody Valentine will find anything especially new about Keepsake, the Brisbane singer~songwriter’s debut album.
• But with that out of the way, dwelling on those influences — influences which Pilbeam herself has acknowledged — also misses the point. If you are already conversant with those aforementioned acts, there is much to like here. If you aren’t, it hardly matters: everything old is new again. Keepsake’s lead single Without a Blush has already notched over 750,000 Spotify streams; Sure, from last year’s Sugar and Spice EP, has clocked 3.5 million (including a remix by the Cocteaus’ Robin Guthrie).
• What’s made Hatchie jump out of the pack is her voice. Even drenched in endless layers of effects and reverb, it’s got a keening, yearning quality that cuts right through Keepsake’s washed~out guitar textures, and the background hubbub of any cafe or club in which it appears. Even when the overall sound of Keepsake drifts hazily into the background — and it often does — Pilbeam’s timbre and phrasing keeps pulling you back in.
• That said, getting the full rewards out of Keepsake takes some persistence. While Pilbeam and John Castle have done their best to mix things up with different rhythmic textures, electronic, dance and classic indie~rock sounds, your first experience of Keepsake is likely to be a sonic blur as it passes by. Even as that mesmerising, insistent voice keeps beckoning you, it takes a little time for the 10 songs to differentiate themselves.
• Without a Blush, at first, comes off like the exception that proves the rule. Its hook immediately recalls the backing vocals of My Bloody Valentine’s 1991 classic Soon, but the longer it goes, the bigger and more enveloping this song becomes; when Hatchie sings “I didn’t want to end the dream”, I didn’t want it to either. Similarly, the chiming guitars and cascading vocal trills of Her Own Heart are reminiscent of a lost Sundays gem — but it’s just a good song, and Harriet Wheeler’s voice has been lost to the pop world for too long anyway.
• It’s in Keepsake’s middle tracks that Hatchie begins punching holes in her own dream~pop web. Obsessed features a programmed dance rhythm and a mantra~like lyric to fit the title. Secret is the closest thing to straight pop, and it’s irresistible: when Hatchie asks if you can keep a secret, it works because it draws the listener closer; you’re being invited to share an intimacy.
• Two songs more clearly point to Hatchie’s likely future. Unwanted Guest is a 1980s~style floor~filler that comes on, bizarrely, like a lost cousin of Wang Chung’s Dance Hall Days. Even more convincing is the dance~floor pop of Stay With Me — a hit Kylie Minogue might kill for. It’s the best vocal turn on the album. “I feel nothing, I feel numb,” Pilbeam sings, but her voice, at its most melancholy and wistful, betrays her longing.
• The obvious reference points of Hatchie’s debut album are only a problem if you let them be. She’s a smart songwriter, with time on her side to forge a more distinctive identity. In the meantime, as Wilde’s aphorism tells us, talent borrows; genius steals. • https://www.theguardian.com/
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares; Score: ****
• On her debut EP, Sugar & Spice, Hatchie’s ultra~catchy take on dream pop was so perfectly realized that it was hard to tell how she could improve — or expand — on it. Though her approach isn’t as novel as it was before, Harriette Pillbeam’s music sounds better than ever on Keepsake. She spends the first half of her debut album showing just how much she can change things up while keeping the honeyed melodies and soaring choruses that are vital to the Hatchie sound. On “Not That Kind,” she strips away some of Sugar & Spice’s hazy guitars in favor of distorted drums and wide~open spaces that add drama to its candy~coated yearning; later, “Unwanted Guest” proves her music isn’t all sweetness and light, with a hefty rhythm section and towering, shimmering riffs providing an unexpected and welcome edge. On the album’s luminous second half, Hatchie returns to the more familiar terrain of Sugar & Spice with the strummy ballads “When I Get Out” and “Kiss the Stars” as well as the irresistible finale “Keep.” She also finds new nuances within her blend of dream pop and pop with a capital P — somehow, “Without a Blush’”s swooning guitars and vocals have as much in common with Curve’s “Coast Is Clear” as they do with Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams,” while “Stay with Me” proves she’s as capable of epic emotional climaxes as any chart~topping artist. Throughout Keepsake, Pillbeam develops the flair for pairing widescreen sounds with down~to~earth lyrics that she hinted at on Sugar & Spice. “Obsessed” is a standout, not only for its nagging arpeggiated synth hook, but for the clever way she dismisses her feelings while hinting at how deep they run. By contrast, “Her Own Heart” is unabashedly earnest and, with its clouds of guitars and piles of harmonies, one of the album’s prettiest moments. As Hatchie exceeds the expectations set by Sugar & Spice, Keepsake reflects her growth into an even more confident and varied artist.
Bandcamp: https://hatchie.bandcamp.com/album/keepsake
Also:
BY BEN KAYEON JUNE 21, 2019, 3:45PM
• https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/06/hatchie-keepsake-track-by-track-stream/
Label: https://heavenlyemporium.com/
Details: http://www.dbldblwhmmy.com/products/636812-hatchie-keepsake
______________________________________________