Marika Hackman somehow snuck into my spring playlist this semester without my full attention, which changed once I realized how special her music is. Hackman, an English singer, is only 24 years old and has released multiple singles and a full album. Her debut single, “You Come Down,” came out in 2012. Since then, she has continued to produce, releasing a couple of EPs and finally her first album, We Slept at Last, in February of 2015.
The first song of hers that I came across was “Drown,” which is a slightly dark but very interesting. It is a great example of her style of songwriting, which she describes in an interview with The Guardian as being about “trudging through the darker sides of your brain and sifting that stuff out.” The darkness and tension continue throughout We Slept at Last, with Hackman’s brooding lyrics highlighted by her voice that can easily be described as ghostly.
As I looked further into Hackman’s work, I found that Spotify offers a “Track by Track” version of We Slept at Last, which is something that I normally find annoying due to my account always being on shuffle, but in this case was great. In this version, Hackman offers explanations, interesting facts, and background stories about individual songs and her experience recording them. As a rare insight into a singer’s thought process, I found it to be extremely interesting.
Along with “Drown,” I really enjoy listening to “Claude’s Girl” and “Deep Green,” which both highlight Hackman’s voice and poetic lyrics. If you decide to check her out and like her music, I would suggest keeping an eye out for new music in the near future – on April 1 she posted that she was “working on new tingz,” which I am sincerely looking forward to.
Photos from Marika Hackman’s facebook page
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