Hatchie @ Yes Basement
-YES BASEMENT, MANCHESTER-
With her debut album on the horizon, Hatchie delivers a dreamy, blissful performance at YES Basement, Manchester.
After being recommended to get on Hatchie by a friend , I quickly listened to the gorgeous, Cocteau Twin-like EP Sugar & Spice and was left wanting more. It was a similar experience on Thursday night.
Wading through the small yet impassioned crowd of Manc supporters, I find myself at the front, gazing upon the Australian cloud hopper and enjoying her dreamlike sound. I feel lazy or shit for just using the word “dream” and attaching it onto everything but it’s the best way to describe Hatchie’s music. Similar words would be “ethereal”, “floaty” or even “mystical”.
The word “brilliant” should definitely be tagged onto this performance, with renditions of ‘Try’, ‘Obsessed’ and ‘Bad Guy’ in particular proving successful crowd pleasers with many punters gently blowing in the basement breeze via light oscillation, head bobs and ale swigs. Cheap pints en all, it’s a belter.
My highlights of the evening would have to be stonkingly excellent versions of the mammoth ‘Sleep’ and the first tune I ever heard from the twenty-something, ‘Sure’. Giving off a similar vibe with Natalie Imbruglia’s 90s classic ‘Torn’, ‘Sure’ is an uplifting dance through Cure-like melodies and effect drenched vocals; a fantastic combination.
Winding up with ‘Stay With Me’, a tune impossible not to get tangled up in lyrically via your half pissed, amateur vocal chops, it is a mountain high platform to finish on with great views of future recording endeavours. Of course due to the limited nature of her discography thus far, Hatchie’s set is short yet sweet; hence the dwarfism of this review.
Be sure to check out Hatchie’s debut KEEPSAKE, released 21st June via Heavenly Recordings. It’s bound to be a soft kaleidoscope adventure and I cannot wait.
Liverpool born music writer with passion for punk and Everton FC
