Description

For the making of Keepsake, the Brisbane-bred musician otherwise known as Harriette Pilbeam recorded in a home studio in Melbourne and worked again with John Castle the producer behind Sugar & Spice, a 2018 release that prompted Pitchfork to dub Hatchie the dream-pop idol of tomorrow. And while the album begins and ends with two massively catchy pop tracks the brightly defiant Not That Kind and the euphoric and epic Keep many songs drift into more emotionally tangled terrain, shedding light on experiences both ephemeral and life-changing.

Throughout Keepsake, Hatchies kaleidoscopic sonic palette draws out distinct moods and tones, continually revealing her depth and imagination as a musician and songwriter. On lead track Without A Blush, jagged guitar riffs and woozy rhythms meet in a sprawling piece of industrial pop, with Hatchies gorgeously airy voice channelling loss and longing, regret and self-doubt.

Another industrial-leaning track, Unwanted Guest, unfolds in wobbly synth lines and fantastically icy spoken-word vocals, along with lyrics about being dragged to a party I dont want to be at, then getting at a fight at the party, and kind of hating myself for it but hating everybody else too. Meanwhile, on Her Own Heart, Hatchie presents a radiant jangle-pop gem that puts a singular twist on the post-breakup narrative. Id seen people in my life go through breakups and end up with no idea what to do with themselves, she says. I wrote that song from the point of view of a girl who winds up on her own and embraces having to figure out who she is, who doesnt let her life get turned upside-down like that.

On Stay With Me, Hatchie offers up Keepsakes most utterly rhapsodic track, all incandescent synth and unstoppable rhythm. At first I thought I could never put that on my album it felt too dancey and pop, and I figured it could really shine on someone elses record, she says. But then I realized: Im the one dictating what my sound is; what I put on my album is up to me.

That self-possessed spirit infuses all of Keepsake, which ultimately serves as a document of a particularly kinetic moment in Hatchies life. Im not much of a nostalgic person when it comes to memories, but I do have a tendency to hold on to certain things, like tickets from the first time I went someplace on holiday, says Hatchie in reflecting on the albums title. It made sense to me to call the record that, at a time when Im going to probably end up with a lot of keepsakes and in a way, this whole album is almost like a keepsake in itself.

LP pressed on clear vinyl with digital download code.