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An English artist that has not garnered as much attention as she deserves from the masses including from myself, is multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Marika Hackman. She’s created one mini-album That Iron Taste (2013). A mini-album aka mini-LP is defined as longer than an EP but not a standard LP length. And Hackman’s That Iron Taste (2013) is seven songs. She’s also created four EPs: Free Covers (2012), Sugar Blind (2013), Deaf Heat (2014) and Wonderland (2016) in addition to four studio albums: We Slept at Last (2015), I’m Not Your Man (2017), Any Human Friend (2019) and Covers (2020). All releases have garnered positive reviews. And now, her fifth studio album, Big Sigh was released for our listening pleasure on January 12th via the legendary Chrysalis Records label. It was Hackman’s first album of new material in five years as Covers is an album of cover songs.
Writing Big Sigh was a multi-year journey for Hackman that saw her take a new approach in her songwriting than Hackman had employed in previous releases. Hackman was more nuanced and reflective. She was more contemplative during the Big Sigh process after initially recording as well, ensuring each song fit and was just right. Hackman performed every instrument on Big Sigh except strings and brass. She got assistance from a series of skilled brass and string trained musicians on the songs, “The Ground,” “No Caffeine,” “Big Sigh,” “Hanging,” “Vitamins” and “Please Don’t Be So Kind.”
And now for some album hype for your ears as well!
The stunning and ultimately cathartic “No Caffeine”:
(All credits and rights to Marika Hackman)
The title song, “Big Sigh”:
(All credits and rights to Marika Hackman)
The emotive, the cathartic “Hanging”:
(All credits and rights to Marika Hackman)
Overall Big Sigh has recurring themes of love, loss, mental health, anxiety and seeking balance. Very relatable to the human experience and I think Hackman explores them wonderfully. Hackman and the production team on Big Sigh are truly proficient at compositions on this album. There are incredible choices of instrumentation from brass to strings to guitar, percussion and synth. Early on in the album the strings and brass create a full sound, orchestral at times. Hackman’s lyrics are accessible, honest and her vocals are confident and resolute. Some may say that’s seems like a contrast, but sonically after listening even one time (I listened to the album a lot more than once), I disagree. It’s a spectacular pairing. Hackman is a brilliant vocalist. There are hooks and refrains that as well are earworms and the album as a whole, sticks with you, in the best ways. For long time Hackman fans, this may be your favorite and her best work yet.
“The Ground” is the opening song on Big Sigh and it kicks off the album with stunning instrumentation from piano, guitar, viola, violin, trombone, trumpet, brass, and guitar culminating in an abrupt ending. All of this loveliness over the top of vocals from Hackman. The instrumentation takes precedent while the vocals are chosen to be delivered in a more hushed manner for most of the song. The musical bouquet pairs so well!
“No Caffeine” features all the instrumentation especially at the crescendo where brass and strings are played together. The beginning of the song, piano, guitars and drums are played to create a frantic atmosphere within the melody. The melody continues on anxious but is also earworm worthy. Hackman’s vocals continue. The lyrics are about being inside of an abusive relationship. Tremendous composition on this song.
In the song “Big Sigh” the guitar begins the melody. We then hear the lyrical hook that begins with “(I’ve been better) radio silence.” The lyrics are about someone who is struggling. There are really catchy hooks, refrains and earworms in this song.
The fourth song, “Blood” features piano, recorder, percussion, bass guitar that intertwine with Hackman’s vocals to set the melody and create the atmosphere which the lyrics further enhance. Another example of her fantastic composition choices.
“Hanging” opens with piano which transitions to a programmed beat without losing importance. In fact, the programmed beat brings you further in. The programmed beat sounds like a slightly anxious heartbeat to me as it’s a little quicker than a normal human beat. “Hanging” is a captivating song, very emotive and cathartic.
“The Lonely House” is an instrumental song. Just the sound of a piano. Nothing else. The piano plays a somber melody. Fitting to its song title; of what I’d imagine a so-called lonely house song would sound like.
Early on in the song “Vitamins,” Hackman employs a vocal effect to create a layered vocal sound that is carried through the song. Percussion carries the melody at first before it becomes more grandiose but still fits together with the vocal effect.
“Slime” has a lot of instrumentation. Drums, guitars, synth, piano, and percussion creating a catchy melody. Hackman’s vocals delivered warmly. Lyrics about passion, lust, love.
The ninth song, “Please Don’t Be So Kind” features lyrics about moving on and moving past a bad situation particularly a relationship. The French horn, trumpet and trombone create a magnificent, rich sound over Hackman’s vocals. The melody is anchored by guitar in the beginning of the song and percussion.
“The Yellow Mile” is the last song on Big Sigh. The song showcases some fingerpicking on guitar paired with Hackman’s vocals. The only song on the album with this arrangement. The lyrics reflect on a past relationship. The song sounds like a strong way to close the album to me.
Big Sigh gets 4.5 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. The album is on the upper end of 4.5 scale. It truly is an excellent album. I think one of my favorite aspects of this album is that it is explorative and vulnerable at times yet resolute. When I look at the writing as a whole and then also break it down to the refrains and hooks within songs, exceptional choices were made. When I look at the melodies as individual songs and breaking them down to the instrumentation used within songs, wonderful choices were made. And when I look at the entire album combining both the writing and melodies, I find that they are exquisitely paired throughout the album. The instrumentation choice is outstanding. Song selection is fitting. Probably Hackman’s best album so far. Sonically it is high quality and worthy of any format of your choosing. Add this album to your collection!
Big Sigh Tracklist (song length)
- The Ground (2:31)
- No Caffeine (3:11)
- Big Sigh (4:02)
- Blood (3:49)
- Hanging (3:53)
- The Lonely House (2:29)
- Vitamins (4:12)
- Slime (3:58)
- Please Don’t Be So Kind (4:29)
- The Yellow Mile (3:03)
Total run time: 35:37
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. This process is usually an hour or less from start to finish. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, the songs that are highlighted in green font above are my favorite songs on the album.
The music on any format you could possibly want, tour info and more, can be found, here.
Thanks for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site, scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions and SWT Interviews. And all of our socials.
Questions, feedback, or more? Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
