• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Vinyl Chapters

Vinyl Chapters

The Stories Behind The Music

  • Home
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • News
  • Submit
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Cart
Home » articles » Hatchie: Giving The World Away – Review

Hatchie: Giving The World Away – Review

April 21, 2022 by Talia Andrea

Hatchie

Australian singer-songwriter Hatchie hatches from her shell with her sophomore album, Giving The World Away.

Following the critical acclaim met by her dream-pop debuts, Sugar & Spice and Keepsake, Brisbane-born musician Harriette Pilbeam—better known as Hatchie—hit a creative block, torn as she was between the desire to stop and self-reflect, and the drive to keep pushing forward. Her third release, Giving The World Away, articulates the tension between these opposites: stillness and motion, insecurity and confidence, heartbreak and love. It keeps hold of the swooning dream-pop-shoegaze hybridity of her first two projects, while also graduating from those stripped-back beginnings to create a more multi-layered sonic experience.

“There’s more to me than just writing songs about being in love or being heartbroken — there’s a bigger picture than that,” Pilbeam has asserted. The thoughtful lyricism of Giving The World Away makes this abundantly clear; each song might have been torn out of the pages of a diary, giving the album a romantic bedroom-pop ethos that makes it yet more charming. Heartbreak does play a part in the album with songs like Twin, as does love (Thinking Of), but the twelve tracks are always focused more on the self than on waxing poetic about a faceless, nameless lover. She doesn’t shy away from difficult questions, some of which have no answers (“Do I regret what I wanted?” she asks on The Key, and “When will I start to feel like I’m whole?” on Don’t Leave Me In The Rain), but just hearing her air them out over her spiralling, starry-eyed instrumentals is a comfort in itself.

Hatchie might not always be sure of herself, but her sound is confident in a way that her words aren’t. Lights On kicks off with winding electric guitar and stacked-up drums, its sound not giving any indication of the feelings of insecurity that first set the album’s concept into motion, while The Rhythm sets blaring guitar arpeggios and experimental percussion alongside her signature sound. When she says “Took some time for me to find the rhythm / It’s hard to see but believe in me, it’s within,” it’s easy to imagine she’s talking about her journey to finding her musical style just as much as her journey to finding herself.

The album might go through a number of lyrical twists and turns, and mood swings between sounds, but according to Hatchie, whenever you “fall down, we could get back up” (Lights On)—even if it seems like the only way is up for her from here. “I feel ready to move forward and like I’ve really taken the time to appreciate my accomplishments and appreciate myself a lot more than I used to,” she’s said of the album. Giving The World Away is only further proof that she has a lot to be proud of.

Score 3.5/5

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Review

About Talia Andrea

There's always music playing somewhere in Talia's home, and there always has been since she was very young—so one day, she decided to start writing about it.

Reader Interactions

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Search

Subscribe

Subscribe to our Newsletter

* indicates required

Recent Posts

DEAD STAR TALK: Solid State Chemicals – Album Review

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift: Midnights – Album Review

Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review

Footer

Navigation

Home

About

Reviews

Features

News

Submit

Contact Us

Shop

Search

Recent Posts

  • Linkin Park: From Zero – Album Review
  • DEAD STAR TALK: Solid State Chemicals – Album Review
  • Taylor Swift: Midnights – Album Review
  • Charlie Puth: Charlie – Review
  • Calvin Harris: Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 – Review

Social Media

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Affiliate Disclosure

Vinyl Chapters is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. In doing so, this helps us continue providing free content. It does not increase the price for you in any way.

Copyright © 2025 Vinyl Chapters | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Editorial Team