Hatchie – Liquorice
Hatchie mixes sweet and sour on her dreamy third album, Liquorice
On her first two records, Harriette Pilbeam, aka Hatchie, opened with an irresistible hook. But on her latest project, Liquorice, there’s a tinge of unease in the pulsing synths and reverb-drenched vocals of meditative opener Anemoia. ‘Maybe the world you want has to slip away’, muses the Australian singer-songwriter. Produced by Melina Duterte, aka Jay Som, the album took shape after Pilbeam settled into a slower pace of life back in Australia after a period in Los Angeles. Where her previous LP fizzed with fluorescent synths and giddy dance-pop, Liquorice is looser and less hurried, luxuriating in cascades of shoegaze guitars.
The lush liquidity of Cocteau Twins is the clearest touchstone for Pilbeam but there’s also echoes of The Sundays in the blissful, elastic vocals of Only One Laughing, the Cure’s Disintegration in the dark, watery guitar on Someone Else’s News, and the crunchy guitar pop of Lush and Echobelly in the caustic fuzz of Sage and Wonder. Nestled among the more turbulent pieces are some truly infectious melodies, with euphoric lead single Lose It Again closely followed by the effervescent Part That Bleeds, while frothy, loved-up closer Stuck might just be the record’s most endearing moment.
Listen to: Only One Laughing, Lose It Again, Stuck