Hatchie is about to go supernova. The Australian singer-songwriter, whose go-to genres are shoegaze and dreampop, is taking things to the next level with her sophomore album, Giving the World Away. That’s right, second album syndrome does not exist in Hatchie’s world.

There was a sweet spot in the mid/late 90s when UK club culture mixed with Britpop to create so many iconic anthems from Sneaker Pimps, The Cardigans, Impossible Princess-era Kylie and many many more. It is here that Hatchie has been finding inspiration for her music and also finding herself. With this new era, the stars are aligned and Hatchie has stepped directly into the sun and is owning the spotlight, something that has not felt so natural until now. We love an evolution!

Giving The World Away is full of highlights from the title track, to new single ‘Lights On.’ It drops on 22nd April and is available to pre-order now. Loverboy speaks with Hatchie about writing the new album, confronting her insecurities and Mariah’s giggle…

 

Hatchie, I’m in love with this album. ‘This Enchanted’ totally takes me back to mid 90s Clubland meets Britpop. It feels nostalgic but totally fresh too.
Thanks, I’m so glad you think so! We were listening to a lot of Sneaker Pimps, New Order and The Beloved in the lead up – they’re some of my favourite bands. I was really interested in blending trip hop with shoegaze, dreampop and 90s dance. I think they’re all really interesting and beautiful genres of music that always sound fresh and exciting to me. Saint Etienne, Curve, Electronic, MBV, Madonna, Primal Scream, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Air, Kylie Minogue and The Cardigans were also in a lot of my playlists while writing the album.

Everything on this album feels heightened from your debut, like we are getting the Top Tier fully-evolved Pokemon of Hatchie. What has been different about how you approached this era?
It was definitely a goal of mine to expand and level up my sound and visuals. I didn’t want to release more of the exact same. I love my older songs, but I began to want more out of my live show experience and felt like surely my listeners must be feeling the same way, so I approached the album with this in mind. That’s part of the reason why I decided to work with Jorge Elbrecht as producer and mixer, as well as writing and producing more than ever with my collaborator Joe Agius. Joe and I had many long conversations about the new direction and expansion of the project. It can be scary to change your sound and image as an artist but it’s really important to me to continue to develop and try new things. I’m definitely somewhat nervous, but mostly excited to keep propelling forward, especially after such a long break between tours and releases.

I know you’ve spoken before about not wanting to be on the cover of your albums and not feeling like the pretty girl. But here we are and it’s great to see! How have you broken through this barrier?
Thanks! It’s taken much self reflection and fake confidence to get to this place where I feel more genuinely confident and comfortable being more of a front woman. I’m trying to celebrate and acknowledge myself more. Even though it’s always been my project, it took me a while to feel like I deserved to be the face of it. It comes from a long history of feeling insecure and not worthy of many things, so I’m proud of myself for putting in the work.
‘The Rhythm’ and ‘Take My Hand’ are all about that journey. I’m still not 100% comfortable with certain things but I’m trying to take it a step at a time by understanding why I feel so insecure in the first place, addressing the issues, and figuring out how to convince myself that I am worthy of acceptance from both myself and others.

You’ve also talked about listening to more depressing-sounding music when you were younger. I know I had to stop listening to love songs for a long time because I saw potential relationships as either obsessive or totally apocalyptic. Has changing what you listen to affected what music you write?
I think it just comes down to the fact that I listen more to songs for the sounds now rather than the lyrics. As a teenager you’re so full of extreme emotions, as you mentioned: gushing euphoria, paralysing disappointment and everything in between. So at that time, I found solace in artists who could match those emotions with their lyrics. I would listen to Bon Iver, Mazzy Star, soundtracks to movies and tv shows like The OC and Romeo and Juliet. As an adult, I get happy energy from artists like Cocteau Twins, New Order and Charli XCX.

You recently covered Taylor Swift and people have pointed out the similarities between ‘Autumn’, ‘Mirrorball’ and your work. I didn’t really clock Taylor as being so shoe-gazey until today…
It’s interesting how much she has evolved to a point where her music wouldn’t be too out of place in playlists full of those artists hey! I think she is great at writing really smart, memorable melodies and harmonies that always stick with me.

Taylor has been scrutinized so much for singing about her boyfriends and people are quick to credit her songwriting to Jack Antonoff or Max Martin. Have you experienced anything like this?
I’m sure there are plenty of listeners who wonder how much of my writing and production comes from me vs the men I work with. That’s why it used to be so important for me to write many of the tracks on my previous releases totally by myself. These days, I really don’t care about whether or not people think that. I know how much of the project starts and ends with me and that’s all that really matters.
So many of my songs’ final versions sound almost identical to the original demos I wrote and recorded completely by myself, only with better mixing (I’m the first to admit I can’t mix to save my life!). In saying this, there is also absolutely nothing wrong with collaborating with other people to bring out your strengths while filling in gaps where your weaknesses are. That’s why I love writing with Joe so much. We do everything together now, because we’ve realised how much stronger and faster we work together.
For myself it was important with this album to write about things other than love, because there is so much more to me than my relationship, but I don’t think anybody else should be shamed or pressured to change if they choose to not cover more topics. I also think the people who scrutinise Taylor for that only need to look a little further than her singles to find that she actually often writes about completely different topics, those songs just aren’t necessarily the radio singles. I’ve never seen John Mayer or Ed Sheeran called out for writing so many songs about sex and love… Unfortunately, I definitely think there is still so much of that negative mentality buried in comments on social media and YouTube.    

You’ve said ballads were once your favourite type of music to play. Do you still feel this way? Which track from the new album are you most excited to get out there and play?
I don’t remember saying that to be honest – it’s definitely not true now. I do feel a beautiful connection to the audience when playing emotional ballads, but at the moment I love playing the more exciting energetic songs because I feel like I played slow, serious songs for years. I think the crowds are getting even more physically into the more energetic songs now after  missing gigs for two years.

I imagine being behind your guitar is a safe place for you when onstage too. Is this something else you feel changing this time around?
It can definitely feel like a security blanket, but I also feel hindered by it at times because I’m stuck standing in one place behind the mic stand and can only really move my eyes around to connect with the audience. Singing without bass means I can focus more on hitting the notes with great breath support, and move around the stage to get closer to the crowd and connect with my band on stage too.

When you supported Kylie I know you said you were really inspired by how tight a ship she ran in terms of professionalism, more than the showgirl aesthetics. But seeing you wear Mugler now and giving us these new looks, in hindsight was Kylie part of this process? Or maybe not at all!
Kylie has always been a huge inspiration for me, both in regards to fashion and music, as she’s been such a chameleon throughout her career. She’s tried almost every look and sound you can think of!

Speaking of Mugler, I saw you are a Just Like That fan. I thought it started out badly but really got a lot better. What was your high/low point with the series?
I totally agree, I could barely get through the first episode, but when I gave it a second chance a few weeks later I thought it was hilarious and addictive (even if not for the reasons the writers probably anticipated). I seriously hope it has a second season.
I wish they’d bring back the faster pace, voice over, snappy music and grittiness of the original though! I think poor Steve’s demise was a low point, and Che’s “Miranda, I’ve done a tonne of weed” was a high point. I also loved seeing Hari Nef in there! But don’t get me started on Miranda and Che’s kitchen scene…

Lastly we are named after the biggest-selling single of 2001. So we always ask what is your favourite Mariah track?
I loooooove all of the Mariah classics from her different eras, and could never pick a favourite, BUT I think more people need to listen to her 2014 collab with Miguel ‘#Beautiful’ if only for her giggles and her sensational “oOoHhH how you thriIiIiIiLlll me” in her verse.

The album Giving the World Away is out 22nd April. Pre-order here.