"You could take a break to recalibrate,"
Hatchie sings at one point on
Giving the World Away, and that's just what she did on her second album. While her first full-length, 2019's
Keepsake, proved she could expand on her 1990s-meets-21st century, dream pop-meets-Top 40 pop style with sweet sincerity, three years later she branched out with a more ambitious sound and more mature songwriting. Working with
Jorge Elbrecht -- who has helped
Tamaryn,
Sky Ferreira, and
Japanese Breakfast reach ethereal heights -- and
Beach House drummer
James Barone, on
Giving the World Away Hatchie ventures further into the more complex and sometimes darker approach she only hinted at on her debut album. "Lights On" introduces her new outlook with harder-hitting beats, shimmering keyboards, and confident vocals that strip some of the sugar from her delivery (but not too much). The title track is an even bigger departure, with acid house keyboards and a driving urgency that recalls the electronic pop of the late '90s and early 2000s instead of the dream pop and shoegaze heyday a few years prior. However,
Hatchie hasn't deserted her flair for sticky-sweet choruses or blissfully distorted guitars. There are plenty of both on "This Enchanted," which evokes
Chapterhouse's mix of baggy beats and clouds of guitar on their classic single "Pearl." Yet even when she sings about breezy romance on "Twin" and "Sunday Song," there's a sense of serene connection that feels more real than
Keepsake's yearning and crushes. "The Key"'s pairing of shoegaze riffs and glossy trip-hop beats -- which are more
Olive or
Zero 7 than
Portishead or
Massive Attack -- feels both fresh and true to her music. The same goes for "Quicksand" and "Don't Leave Me in the Rain," both of which lend more restraint and depth to the album's approach. As she ponders "the you you used to be" while drifting off on "Til We Run Out of Air"'s gossamer wash of sound, she distills
Giving the World Away's balancing act between contentment and the need for growth perfectly. ~ Heather Phares