Hazel returns to the haziness, dreaminess and candor of her EPs, abandoning a bit the change of direction initiated with the LP. The tracks are nice and comfy and functional, though none seem to reach the lovely heights of some of her previous dreamy ones. But they're well enough crafted and good fun, though not as memorable. The production is a little more polished, a little more electronic, and the voice processed differently, which gives a different flavour and perhaps removes a bit of the dreamy magic, but adds a slightly more pop flavour for which the enjoyment will vary. It's not quite back to the first EPs, but it's much closer than the LP was. 1-2 are the best here and closest to the older sound, whilst 3 is not far off and the guest feature does add a nice touch of diversity. 4's perhaps a bit cheesier than the rest and I wasn't so into it, and 5 feels like the record has definitely lost steam already, which drops this a couple points. If it was all like 1-2 it might be a good 3.6 aided by nostalgia, but here I struggle to think of this more than a 3.4
2 Bumps | Bump |
