Hazelene, a multi-instrumentalist from California and now based in the UK, makes a striking entrance into the shoegaze and dreampop scene with the very well made debut single. Every Loss, mixed by Ian Flynn (Whitelands) and mastered by Mark Gardener (Ride) at OX4 Sound, exudes an unmistakable dreampop tone with a strong nineties influence. The track also draws inspiration from psychedelia and sixties girl groups, blending moody atmospheres with fine pop melodicism.
The artist describes the track as a a "primitive banger," and goes on to explain: "I love guitar, but have always found it intimidating. You're led to believe that you can't compose with a guitar unless you're a great guitarist. When I realised that the guitar was just an object that made a noise, this was a revelation! I started messing around with tunings to create fun patterns. I learned, that with added emotion, actually a good song could be very simple, and being a primitive musician was something to celebrate, not hide. Spacemen 3 and Black Thumb also had a strong influence, the idea of molding a song around just very few chords, and the arrangement of beats and the vocal to create movement."
Hazelene's debut single makes excellent use of its apparent and tasteful influences, implying a fairly strong new act in the making.
Hazelene remarks: "One of my early musical memories is hearing Cocteau Twins, aged 10, on a Walkman, and wanting to go wherever that music was coming from! I was fortunate to see those greats live (and delighted that Mark Gardener of Ride has mastered this track) and their huge walls of sound informed the music I'm making. I'm a massive fan of the next wave too, bands like Orielles, Seablite, Mo Dotti and Pale Blue Eyes are the progressed second wave of this revival."
ZR