Ethereal Brisbane babe Harriette Pilbeam has finally released her debut EP, 'Sugar & Spice', as Hatchie, after years gigging with local pop outfits.
She struggled to find a starting point for 'Sugar & Spice' until the gauzy teen-dream track 'Try' materialised back in 2015. “[The EP] deserved its own project and production, away from my other bands,” Harriette says.
“It deserved other songs that worked really well with it on its own platform.”
The success of the Brisbanite’s glittering emotional maximalism saw her make the pilgrimage to South By Southwest earlier this year in Texas, playing six shows in five days. “Austin was really, really cool, we loved it,” Harriette says.
“Touring in Australia, you’re home for the week and then you go away for one or two days over the weekend, it’s this back and forth.
“But overseas, there’s nothing else happening; you’re just doing the show and moving.”
Hatchie songs could soundtrack the prom scene in a Sofia Coppola movie; her tendency to dwell on feelings and relationships in lyrics cocooned by sun-bleached guitars make them feel like old diary entries.
“All of my writing comes from what I’m thinking about as opposed to looking out on the world and wondering about big picture stuff,” she says. “I’m selfish, in that way.”
As well as mining her own memories for material, Harriet studies the relationships of the people around her and integrates their foreign perspectives into her songs.
In 'Sure', she sings about unhappy couples that break up just to get back together, over and over again. “I kind wrote it about this thing that I didn’t understand. I hadn’t been through that myself, so I found it really fascinating.
“As an outsider, you’re kind of like ‘what is wrong with you?’. But when you’re in a relationship, breaking up is the hardest thing to do.”
Hatchie is currently supporting DMA’s on their sold-out national tour, before embarking on her own string of headline shows, which are “a bit looser” than the EP tracks.
“The live show will be less polished and hi-fi than the recordings. I think if it sounds too perfect, it’s weird. What’s the point of seeing it live if nothing different is happening?”
Less than perfect pop is certainly enjoying a moment in the spotlight, with the rise of acts like Sky Ferreira and Carly Rae Jepsen blurring the boundaries of bubblegum.
“Carly Rae’s album is so much more than a pop album,” Harriette says. “It’s super smart, fun, exciting writing.
“Five or so years ago I was like ‘ew, I don’t want to be a pop singer, I don’t want to be in that pop music world’. But now, I can totally see myself fitting into that space.”
With her new EP released to the world, the singer has been fleshing out demos that expose a new side of the Hatchie project. “The songs I’m currently working on are going back to a more alternative band sound, which I’m really happy with. I’m definitely expanding my lyrical content,” she says.
“There’s a lot more about friendship, myself and concepts other than love, because I don’t just want to write about being in love or out of love. It’s not what my life revolves around.”
'Sugar and Spice' is available now.
Hatchie Tour Dates
Thu 12 Jul - The Workers Club (Melbourne)Fri 13 Jul - Oxford Art Factory Gallery (Sydney)
Sat 14 Jul - Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
