Review Summary: most of the time i can keep both feet on the ground
Think of generic compliments you could hand to any
good pop artist, and add the phrase “most of the time”. Good job: you just summarised Hatchie. Hatchie is a competent songwriter, most of the time. Her songs are catchy, most of the time. The brand new
Giving the World Away is an enjoyable record… most of the time. While this is painfully backhanded, it’s also hard to feel like the Australian musician is truly living up to her potential when excellently dreamy bangers like ‘Quicksand’ and ‘Don’t Leave Me In The Rain’ are contrasted by pleasant-yet-flaccid snoozers a la ‘Take My Hand’ and ‘Sunday Song’. The occasional detour from the album’s overt 90s maximalism found in the more abstractly low-key ‘Thinking Of’ and ‘The Key’ hint at a brighter future, but sadly aren’t enough to lift the 50-minute dreahemoth to greater heights. As it stands,
Giving the World Away is a decent record with some excellent highlights, but also one that fails to live up to Hatchie’s potential. It’s somewhat frustrating, most of the time.
