"Without a Blush"-Hatchie
First off, I would have chosen a better moniker. For me, hearing “Hatchie” triggers visions of Billy Joe MacAllister and Choctaw Ridge. But later -- after learning “Hatchie” is the stage-name for 25-year old Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist Harriette Pilbeam -- I decided that, yeah… Hatchie (a family nickname) was a better choice.
Like many group names, they may sound a bit absurd at first, but --as you know -- time and success normalizes most everything. And I truly believe most everyone will get to know Hatchie very soon.
The first of her songs that instinctively and instantly made me invest $1.29 via iTunes was “Without a Blush,” a wistful blend of Eighties Brit-pop and Ninties shoegaze.
This five-minute track starts with a steady, breathy beat paced by Hatchie’s languished “Ah-ahh”s over a wobbly bass, distorted guitar riffs and muted xylophone chimes setting up her story of love lost.
Like many group names, they may sound a bit absurd at first, but --as you know -- time and success normalizes most everything. And I truly believe most everyone will get to know Hatchie very soon.
The first of her songs that instinctively and instantly made me invest $1.29 via iTunes was “Without a Blush,” a wistful blend of Eighties Brit-pop and Ninties shoegaze.
This five-minute track starts with a steady, breathy beat paced by Hatchie’s languished “Ah-ahh”s over a wobbly bass, distorted guitar riffs and muted xylophone chimes setting up her story of love lost.
You and me, we were destined to fall apart,
Can you believe it's been three years since the start?
Hatchie goes Greek in the second stanza tapping the fate of Icarus to parallel expectations of a relationship that was just too high to realize.
But we couldn't see we were flying close to the sun,
And it didn't take too much time for our wings to melt...
The lead-in to the chorus takes its time getting there and includes a couple of pregnant pauses, the first of which is feigned. But, hang in there, the hook is worth the wait. It’s the second brief break that takes you to pop-music payoff, a soaring refrain brimming with bells and blues.
If I could kiss you one more time,
Would it make everything all right?
Or would it just make me a liar?
I didn’t wanna end tonight, the dream...
I can just picture her singing the words "all right" with bright-eyed optimism, then -- during the end of the very next line -- looking discouragingly toward the floor as she shamefully utters "liar." Her second-guessing is airy and heartfelt and the cadence shifts between halting to haunting to hopeful.
Part of what elevates “Without a Blush” to alt-pop perfection is the song’s industrial-tinged instrumental break which evolves from pessimistic to promising followed immediately by the return of the chorus which certainly soars the second time around.
But there's more! Just as tasty is another brand-new Hatchie track titled “Stay With Me,” both from her album Keepsake, available June 21.
Whenever a new act is introduced to your ears, comparisons are inevitable. For me, I heard shades of Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, Tears For Fears to more recent releases by Fazerdaze, Geowulf and Japanese House. Not one specifically, but more of a smorgasbord of borrowed textures. Hatchie, though, comes away with mixed feelings with such observations.
She explained to 34st.com, ”Sometimes I feel weird about it, because those artists worked hard to hone their sound and discovered a lot of new sounds, and it's easy for somebody now to replicate. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I'm compared to older artists like that, but I will always be flattered and honored.”
Maybe. But I feel it’s just a matter of time until some new act will be tagged as the new Hatchie. She's that talented.
Part of what elevates “Without a Blush” to alt-pop perfection is the song’s industrial-tinged instrumental break which evolves from pessimistic to promising followed immediately by the return of the chorus which certainly soars the second time around.
But there's more! Just as tasty is another brand-new Hatchie track titled “Stay With Me,” both from her album Keepsake, available June 21.
Whenever a new act is introduced to your ears, comparisons are inevitable. For me, I heard shades of Cocteau Twins, The Sundays, Tears For Fears to more recent releases by Fazerdaze, Geowulf and Japanese House. Not one specifically, but more of a smorgasbord of borrowed textures. Hatchie, though, comes away with mixed feelings with such observations.
She explained to 34st.com, ”Sometimes I feel weird about it, because those artists worked hard to hone their sound and discovered a lot of new sounds, and it's easy for somebody now to replicate. Sometimes I feel a bit sad when I'm compared to older artists like that, but I will always be flattered and honored.”
Maybe. But I feel it’s just a matter of time until some new act will be tagged as the new Hatchie. She's that talented.
