Rising artist Darcie Haven has just released a gorgeous moment of self-reflection in her new single ‘Hollywood’. At the fore is Haven’s gossamer silk vocals that seemingly float in the ether above the dappling instrumentation. The result is a magnificent piece of dream pop that floats like a cotton wool cloud in a bright blue Western Australian sky.
With production by Aidan Hogg (G Flip, Hatchie, Eves Karydas), the genetic code is detectable (certainly traces of Hatchie, Sharon Van Etten, Phoebe Bridgers and Fazerdaze springs to mind) but Haven has her own unique brand of shimmering melancholia with an antipodean blush.
Haven says of the new single:
‘Hollywood’ is almost a word for word diary entry from a time when I was feeling really stagnant and frustrated. I felt like I should have been further along in life than what I was, and was bursting at the seams to get there. Watching all my friends go through university while I chose a more unorthodox path was hard, and I was questioning whether I made the right choice. It’s funny though because writing this song brought me so much joy that I kind of answered my own question.
I recorded it with Aidan Hogg in Brisbane off the back of his sessions with G-Flip for their album Drummer. We had so much fun creating an early 2000s, melancholic, night-time-drive soundscape for the song. I’m so so proud of it and so excited to share.
The lyrics are reflective and poignant, aching for something in the past:
All the girls in Hollywood
They tell me to eat well and push myself out of my shell
But now it isn’t feeling like it should
I know I can’t complain, left my past life on that plane
But I want it back
I want it back
I want it back
I want it back
It certainly captures a filtered sunlight brilliance and a sense of aching, yearning emotions. The track is accompanied by a luscious video co-directed by Havens and Stephanie Senior shot late at night in a Nicolas Winding Refn/Michael Mann style:
‘Hollywood is out now and available to stream and download here and through the link below. Another star in the firmament.
