Review Summary: Dream pop, but let's dance
I saw Hatchie live in a very small venue back in 2019 and the show was great, nothing amazing, just pretty standard. However, I did get to meet her after, we chatted a bit, I bought Keepsake, her debut LP, on vinyl and she signed it for me. She was very enthusiastic about being in Chicago, having come from Australia, and I really loved just how happy she was to be touring. Keepsake was a opening gate for her, after getting recognition for her EP Sugar & Spice, she was finally gaining traction within the music community. Anybody into dream pop probably really liked at least one of her songs. Now 3 years later, after a pandemic, she has finally put out her sophomore album, Giving the World Away, and it does not fail to meet expectations. It's a beautiful album, full of longing, romance, and introspection.
What Giving the World Away does that Keepsake failed to do is keep the listener's attention. Keepsake was a pretty straight forward, albeit great, dream pop album that kind of danced the line between dreamy and poppy. It's a fun listen, but at 45 minutes the songs tend to blend together and why I have always preferred Sugar & Spice, which had similar production, but was condensed into 5 excellent songs. This album, however, pulls from so many great influences it's hard not to be engaged. The dream pop is still there of course, and she is not afraid to get noisy, but what I really love are the dance influences. Baggy, alt-dance, and synth-pop undertones are present in many of the songs. "The Rhythm" is an immediate stand out, as the jangly Take My Hand ends, this song kicks in with an infectious drum beat and then a wall of sound is textured right over it to produce this blissful production. The title track is also quite fun, reminding me of Primal Scream in its laid back approach to dance music, with lovely synths making you want to move. When she's not making you dance, she's channeling dream pop legends like Cocteau Twins, but with a more standard pop approach; her vocals are clear, present, and the melodies are catchy. There are great bookends, with Lights On featuring energetic drumming and synths in the style of Heaven or Las Vegas and Til We Run Out of Air being a heavier and nosier closing song in the style of Treasure. It's all very well done, the influences are clear, but she makes her sound her own.
Giving the World Away is one of the best dream pop albums released in a long time and should not be overlooked. Some people have a problem with her vocal delivery, but honestly that's not the focus. Hatchie herself has always disliked her voice because it's too "school choir" and I don't think that should hold her back. I would love to see her really let loose, do something wild, but I will enjoy this 90s influenced, dreamy, catchy, and danceable sophomore LP until then.
