The sun always shines brighter when Brisbane dream pop shoegaze queen Hatchie releases another sonic gemstone, and she strikes again with new single ‘Quicksand’. Hatchie, the moniker of Harriette Pilbeam, having signed with US label Secretly Canadian, also has announced the release of her second album, ‘Giving The World Away’ on Friday, 22 April 2022 to be accompanied by a North American tour.
‘Quicksand’ follows on from the single ‘This Enchanted’ released last year which featured in my top fifty single releases for 2021 (read the article here).
Pilbeam says of the single:
Quicksand is about dealing with the realisation that you’ll never be satisfied. I started writing it when I was home between tours in 2019 before finishing it with Joe Agius and Dan Nigro the next year. I was feeling guilty and ungrateful for not being happy about a few different things in my life that were technically going well. I had to work through some tough learned thought processes and emotions that had been working away for years to try to understand how to be happy with my present, and stop fixating on my past and future. The video digs deeper into showing this juxtaposition of such sadness and anger despite being surrounded by glamour and grandeur.
‘Quicksand’, written with GRAMMY-nominated Olivia Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro, shows a sleeker, more polished Hatchie with less jingle jangle fuzz and more electronic thrum. The trademark velvet vocals with a hint of yearning and the shining, sparkling melodies remain strong.
The single is accompanied by a fittingly dreamy video shot partly in a late night neon-lit jungle with psychedelic shimmers that recall something by Nikolas Winding Refn. Director Nathan Castiel says:
For ‘Quicksand’, I created a video that plays off of some tropes of Hollywood glamour in a melancholy and surreal way while giving Harriette room to perform and express the song’s raw emotions. We leaned into a neon-tinged after hours aesthetic and shot on 16mm which added a griminess to the opulent locations and set pieces.
‘Quicksand’ is available to download and stream here.
This is a delicious amuse bouche ahead of the release of Hatchie’s new album ‘Giving The World Away’. Hatchie’s second album comes after a heady level of universal acclaim following the release of her EP ‘Sugar & Spice’ and debut album ‘Keepsake’ (a progression of shimmering releases closely followed by Backseat Mafia since her debut). Accompanied with this adulation was a sense of anxiety felt by Pilbeam, caused by the intense scrutiny. She says this influenced the resultant album:
There’s more to me than just writing songs about being in love or being heartbroken — there’s a bigger picture than that. This album really just feels like the beginning to me, and scratching the surface – and even though it’s my third release as Hatchie, I feel like I’m rebooting from scratch.
‘Giving The World Away’ is available to pre-order/pre-save here or through the link below:
‘Giving The World Away’ tracklist:
1. Lights On
2. This Enchanted – Official video
3. Twin
4. Take My Hand
5. The Rhythm
6. Quicksand – Official video
7. Thinking Of
8. Giving The World Away
9. The Key
10. Don’t Leave Me In The Rain
11. Sunday Song
12. Til We Run Out of Air
Hatchie has also announced a string of North American tour dates (tickets available via hatchie.net):
05/04/22 – Washington, DC – Songbyrd Record Cafe
05/05/22 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry
05/06/22 – Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre
05/07/22 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
05/09/22 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz PDB
05/10/22 – Toronto, ON – The Garrison
05/12/22 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe
05/13/22 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
05/14/22 – Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village
05/15/22 – Minneapolis, MN – Turf Club
05/19/22 – Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound Club
05/20/22 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
05/21/22 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
05/23/22 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
05/25/22 – San Diego, CA – Casbah
05/26/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
In the meantime, Hatchie will be doing an tour of the East Coast of Australia (Tickets available here):
Thursday, 10th February – Mary’s Underground, Sydney, NSW
Sunday, 13th February – Old Museum (Studio 1), Brisbane, QLD
Friday, 18th February – The Night Cat, Melbourne, VIC
Feature Photograph: Lissyelle
