Maybe Hornet should just tell me what to listen to next. Like Suzy Clue (who apparently plays bass in this band), I found this artist while looking around for more about Hornet.

Sedative is the track that hooked me:

It’s from her debut full-length from last year, So Vanilla. The whole thing has a kind of vintage, lo-fi feel to it, but it’s a lot more complex than it seems the first time through. The lyrics are often very direct and disillusioned, fatigued by modern life. Her vocal is distinctive and intimate, sometimes reminds me a little of Veruca Salt (on Down, for one), sometimes Laura Les from 1000 gecs, on tracks like Karaoke. This song is worth a close listen, there’s a lot going on here, especially in the last minute:

There’s a lot of musical range on the record – it’s a pretty big departure from the more conventional stuff she put out on her earlier EPs. It’s the kind of album that you can put on when you’ve got a roomful of friends over, and nobody will complain – it’s full of great melodies and hooks, original lyrical twists and enough variation that it comes off like a great 90’s mixtape that happens to have the same people performing each track.

I’ve read a lot about her career and this album (this interview with Under the Radar magazine is good). She changed record labels to release it, and the producer/label guy Dan Carey (who also produced the upcoming Been Stellar record) was apparently instrumental in finding the tone on this record, but in a sort of “letting her do the thing” way.

Here’s a pretty good remix by Dan Carey of a song that’s originally a very stripped-down, depressed acoustic thing:

The label is Speedy Wunderground, which I had not heard of until last week. Watch this space, I guess.

At any rate, this album is great.

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