Review Summary: Inoffensively frustrating
Wake UP! is a disappointment of the worst kind. It’s not a terrible album, hell, it’s not even bad, but it could and
should have been so much more. A debut record by a dreamy indie artist with semi-monotone vocals? Sign me up! Yet, where musicians such as Fazerdaze and, to a lesser extent, Hatchie succeeded at crafting memorable albums, Hazel English’s first full length is pleasant and polished to a fault. While everything sounds rather pleasing to the ear, there is a severe lack of substance or catchy moments to make for an excellent record.
Opening cut ‘Born Like’ instantly showcases
Wake UP!’s strengths and weaknesses. There is not a single distinguishable or memorable melody to be found in the song’s verses, while the chorus is rather delightful. In spite of this, much like the entirety of the album, the song is lifted slightly above mediocrity by the highlighted contrast between the lifeless verses and the chorus. While the latter is highlighted by the drastic difference in quality, the fact that the refrains are reverb-drenched helps elevate the song’s dynamics too, preventing it from failing altogether… and helping it retract back into inoffensive territory. Most other songs follow suit, with the title track being an outlier and clear stand-out. ‘Wake UP!’ manages to rise above merely being a ‘nice’ song due to its more energetic nature and absolute joy of a chorus. Sadly, it’s the only of its kind on the album.
In spite of this stand-out track, Hazel English rarely switches it up on
Wake UP!. Sure, ‘Combat’ and ‘Five and Dime’ are a bit slower and jazzier, but one would hardly notice this on a casual listen, the very thing the record appears to be crafted for. ‘Combat’ aims for a more ethereal sound and succeeds to a minimal degree, due to the song’s failure of capitalising on the atmosphere and doing something interesting with it. This, once again, prevents the record from being engaging. It’s a damn shame that she appears to be somewhat restricted: in similar fashion, ‘Milk and Honey’ constantly appears to be on the brink of exploding into something big… and never does. Inoffensively frustrating.
At the end of the day,
Wake UP! is not a bad album by any means, and is definitely capable of serving its purposes. It’s an album designed for casual listens while doing something else: it can function as perfectly acceptable background music. This is a shame, but the subtle hints of brilliance sprinkled throughout this record imply that Hazel English is capable of much more: hopefully we’ll get to see her tap into that restricted creativity on future projects.
