Following a handful of viral songs in the mid-2010s and a pair of EPs that landed her on Polyvinyl's roster,
Wake UP! is the full-length debut of Australian ex-pat
Hazel English. A more vibrant, polished affair than her EPs, half of the album was recorded with producer
Ben H. Allen (
Deerhunter,
Animal Collective), and the other half with
Justin Raisen (
Charli XCX,
Angel Olsen), the latter of whom had collaborated on a bonus track for her two-EP combo release. The resulting recordings still reflect core attributes that were part of
English's music from the beginning: namely, a '60s sensibility, a knack for breezy melodies, and a touch of dream pop luster.
Wake UP! opens with a swelling mixture of organ and guitar on "Born Like," a psychedelic pop tune that quickly settles into a midtempo bass groove shaded with broken guitar chords and rim clicks, as
English addresses the other half of a harmonious relationship. Later, she eases into an ethereal, twangy haze on the more alienated "Combat" and invites hints of post-punk on the uptempo "Shaking," while "Five and Dime" adopts a low-sugar bubblegum vibe. All of these stylistic diversions are light-handed and in keeping with the sentimental, searching indie pop of the whole track list, which moves effortlessly from soft-spoken melodic hook to melodic hook. Perhaps fittingly, the closest thing to an outright earworm comes courtesy of "Wake UP!," whose churning, shimmery guitar pop offers some of the record's most confrontational lyrics ("Open up your eyes and you'll see/If you're living complacently"). Steered by the singer's winsome, breathy vocals, even that message goes down easy, with an implied fluttered lash extension, on an album that aims to please and largely succeeds. ~ Marcy Donelson