Charlotte Hatherley, New Worlds
A fabulously quirky art-pop record from a survivor of early indie stardom
Gifted enough to join Irish indie starlets Ash at age 17, Charlotte Hatherley had to reckon with fame and its attendant temptations early. Only now, at 30 and three albums into her acclaimed solo career, does this London-born singer and musician seem fully at ease with herself. Exploring "career disorientation, relationship break-ups and the ongoing search for identity," New Worlds is a fabulously quirky art-pop record. Hatherley's imagination fires arrangements devoid of cliché, while her versatile, charismatic guitar playing — recently utilised by both Bat for Lashes and Brian Ferry in their live shows— is often to die for.
Thinker Lewis Hyde's book Trickster Makes This World: How Disruptive Imagination Creates Culture was reportedly one of Hatherley's inspirations here, and songs such as the skewed, Siouxie & The Banshees meets XTC-like "Straight Lines" and the album's title track (imagine an Akron, Ohio-based love-in between Devo and Chrissie Hynde) are certainly indicative of a songwriting path less travelled. "Full Circle" also has some eccentric, rapid-fire guitar that sees Hatherley tip the hat to Marnie Stern. What's not to like?
The sludgy riff to opener "White" is instantly-hummable; the folkier "Alexander" opens out into an unexpectedly epic-sounding chorus, and Hatherley's kooky whooping on playful love song "Little Sahara" evokes none-other than Lene "Lucky Number" Lovich. Hatherley's succinct and vivid latest packs exemplary, often utterly fresh indie. New Worlds, indeed.
