Album Review: Hatchie - Keepsake
The fledgling sound of Australian singer-songwriter Hatchie, while no doubt unique to her, still falls in the awkward realm of dream pop and shoegaze which invites both a reputation for aberrance that precludes mainstream success and inevitable (and unflattering) comparisons to the authors of these genres. In terms of the latter, she has unabashedly embraced the impact of these groups on her music, citing My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins among others as direct influences; Robin Guthrie of the latter outfit even deigned to remix one of the tracks off of her debut EP, 2018's Sugar & Spice. Of the charge that her music is too inaccessible, however, Keepsake makes it abundantly clear early on that Hatchie's compositions work as catchy pop songs as much as they reek of her indie sensibilities. The result is an album that is far from groundbreaking, yet undeniably enjoyable from front to back.
In lieu of the overuse of reverb and layered sounds that made records like Loveless so revolutionary, Keepsake is dominated by punchy synth melodies and tight, organic percussion that forms the backdrop for Hatchie's blissful, otherworldly vocal performances. Her singing is, quite literally, heavenly - it feels apart from the mortal realm, a dreamy lilt that still maintains a pop star's invitation for empathy. She invokes ancient myths on the bitter Without A Blush ("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"), yet even while lamenting a failed relationship, her words are both personal and detached: "Never thought I would kiss you without a blush". The imagery returns on Obsessed, where she declares "That's when I knew I'd clip my wings, do anything for you" over a bubbly synthpop beat that distracts from Hatchie's melancholy and unrequited affection: "What happens when the love you give/Is greater than you receive?".
Regardless of how close Keepsake comes to pop music, however, the lyrics will ultimately not be the focus for many listeners. For those that gravitate to Hatchie looking for vast, ethereal soundscapes, the record delivers in spades, with nearly every track incorporating an aura of glamour and excess, supported by electronic distortion and a variety of guitar licks. Kiss The Stars and its echoing, overblown piano melodies represent this idea taken to the extreme, though most of the cuts present here are relatively restrained, free of the shoegaze tradition of drowning one's work in noise and reverb. This may disappoint some, but it's hard to argue that the emphatic percussion on When I Get Out or the delightfully retro aesthetic of Keep are not compelling in a manner unlike any of the singer's peers. Kate Bush, another of Hatchie's influences, still feels subtly present in the anthemic splendor of cuts like Unwanted Guest and Kiss The Stars, but to call the sound on display here anything but fresh would be doing it a disservice.
The less hectic moments help to provide a break from the cacophonous onslaught of sound, and let Hatchie's more accessible tendencies shine through. Her Own Heart combines painfully poetic lyrics ("Dying to show herself she's still a spark/They say she runs until she starves/The girl who chose to take back her heart") with ambient guitar strumming, a blend that makes the track oddly reminiscent of Taylor Swift's earlier material. Though Stay With Me is just as dreamy as the songs surrounding it, Hatchie is content to keep the first half of the track relatively bare, leaving plenty of room for resonating synth stings and the drawn-out crooning that make up her chorus. Even when Hatchie opts for a more traditional, comparatively minimalist style, the results are usually just as invigorating as the rest of the record, save perhaps for Secret and its slow, plodding verses adding little to an already unexciting instrumental.
As much as Hatchie owes to the many famous dream pop acts to come before her, the sound of Keepsake cannot help but betray her equal fascination with the lyrical and musical trends of pop music, for better or for worse. Singing about one-sided love and fractured relationships is far from a new development, yet few acts have been able to blend an infatuation with mainstream synthpop so effortlessly with the abstract, washed-out ornamentation of shoegaze. In a decade defined by the protracted dismantling and rebuilding of pop music's core tenets, experimentation continues to redefine what sounds the genre can successfully employ, and Keepsake is a thrilling demonstration of just how far pop's comfort zone can be stretched.
8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: Not That Kind, Kiss The Stars, When I Get Out
https://open.spotify.com/album/3Onflnxn8chSsx8pIG0qrk