We are very pleased to have come across Tahi – a new artist originally from Sydney but now based in Hobart – who has released a gorgeous ethereal track ‘Hartnett’. Channeling a cross between Alvvays, Wolf Alice, Fazerdaze and a touch of Hatchie, ‘Harnett’ is a jangling jewel with a rousing chorus and a burnished shimmering presence. Tahi is the musical nom de plume for Leah Randall and this track portends great things for the future.
Randall says the song is influenced by Sophia Coppola’s radiant ‘Virgin Suicides’. When asked what is the song about, she says:
Having a “crush” was the answer because knowing the songs I’ve written, doomed relationships are familiar territory. I didn’t want to, why didn’t they encourage writing about new territory… growing up and asserting my feminine power? Alas, I wouldn’t have this fully fledged single if it weren’t for the kind suggestion. It’s called ‘Hartnett’. In the rose-tinted lenses of teen youth, there was heavy rotation of The Virgin Suicides in my house. Since we’re all too mature for crushes now, I went back in time and selected Josh Hartnett from TVS wearing a terrible haircut.
(In) the song ‘Hartnett’ sings “I don’t want the real thing” and that statement points to ambivalence in the desires of the heart. I love the shoegaze chic – it reflects the Lisbon girl’s collective 1970s homebody that pines to be outside.
A muscular instrumentation underpins Randall’s ethereal vocals, and the melodies surf across gargantuan choruses – fittingly accompanied by a video that captures sunlight and ocean expanses mixed in with enigmatic performance pieces and casual scenes of Randall in her environment as she was in the process of moving out. It’s a perfect expression of the song’s architecture – mixing the wistful and melancholic with sparkling sunshine and a self-deprecating sense of humour:
This is a heady mix of dream pop and shoegaze that is very exciting. Quite a find. ‘Hartnett’ is out now and available to stream and download here.
Feature Photograph: Tom Wilkinson
[…] indie dream pop magic. We greatly admired the last single ‘Hartnett’ (see my review here) amd ‘Hive Bee’ introduces a little bit of steel in the sound with its jangling guitar […]
[…] songwriter Leah Tahi Randall from Sydney recently, releasing two songs reviewed by Backseat Mafia, ‘Hartnett’ and ‘Hive Bee’. Tonight was Tahi’s debut perfomance with a new locally sourced […]