SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MARIKA HACKMAN – BIG SIGH

MARIKA HACKMAN
BIG SIGH
CHRYSALIS RECORDS

Taking a road less travelled is not a path you would expect from an artist that loosely falls within the singer-songwriter category. Such a road takes not only artistic courage, but the ample ability to do so, and throughout her releases so far, particularly her album Any Human Friend from 2019.

It took some four years for Hackman to come up with a follow-up of her own material, Big Sigh, but whatever she has in mind behind that title, she can certainly take a big sigh of relief, as it is yet another album of exquisite songs crafted with both care and invention with subtle arrangements that do not overpower either Hackman’s songwriting or vocals, giving this album and excellent ebb and flow.

Her main collaborators here, Sam Petts-Davies [Thom Yorke, Warpaint] and Charlie Andrew (Alt-J) add enough of those extra touches to supplement the best elements in Hackman’s music here. Hopefully we will not have to wait too long for more of this kind of music.

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