Hazel English returns with woozy and idyllic album 'Wake Up!

Los Angeles-based artist Hazel English is set to return with her sophomore LP Wake UP! this Friday which is a woozy, idyllic view into Hazel’s world, which is built on timeless-sounding melodies, retro-tinged soundscapes and a knack for resonant lyrics.

Kicking off with ‘Born Like’, Hazel wants us to open our eyes as she’s on a mission to rattle the cages of our very existence, asking us to dig deep and ask challenging questions of ourselves. The album Bigger, lusher, and more live-sounding, the LP shows a new side to English: one that conveys the joy and excitement of collaboration.

‘Shaking’ and ‘Wake UP!’ have rumbling riffs throughout before leading into ethereal choruses where Hazel’s vocals cut through them like a hot knife on butter. “Radical messages need a raw and vibrant backdrop to pop,” she says, and she’s kept her trademark sunshine-filled sound that fits her Los Angeles dwelling, but with bigger, stirring choruses. It’s a testament to English’s writing style and ear for a hook that she won’t make anything that she couldn’t play stripped back to its bones, refusing to rely on production to carry a song.

“Sometimes I feel like we’re just sleepwalking through our lives. We’re not really present.” – Hazel English

‘Combat’ follows the spirited, direct ‘Shaking’ and mesmeric, 60s pop-infused ‘Off My Mind’ with a more tranquil energy, driven by an instantly timeless melody and serene vocals. The track marks a shift of pace on Wake UP! and perfectly demonstrates Hazel’s ability to glide seamlessly between sonic styles. Speaking about the track, Hazel says: “‘Combat’ is about the push and pull of two people dealing with conflict in a relationship. It’s about how sometimes winning an argument can actually mean losing the real battle – maintaining intimacy with a partner.”

Latest single ‘Five & Dime’ is a woozy, idyllic view into Hazel’s world, which is built on timeless-sounding melodies, retro-tinged soundscapes and a knack for resonant lyrics. The mid-tempo number is reminiscent of the playful love songs of ’60s pop, as Hazel frustratedly muses on a love interest who is consuming her thoughts and detracting from her focus, “Gotta get away cause you’re taking up all of my time / You know I need my space so I’m heading to the Five & Dime”.

“It’s about the desire for space and independence when feeling stifled in a relationship,” adds Hazel. “I wrote it about a trip I took to Oakland when I just needed to get out of LA for a bit. ‘Five & Dime’ is actually an old slang term for the area code 510 which covers the East Bay, so I thought it would be a fun way to refer to the place that once used to be my home, while also invoking a sense of nostalgia for a time when a phrase like five and dime was very common.”

Final track ‘Work It Out’ drops the tone to sub-zero, bringing out a deeper and vulnerable side of Hazel English. It ties up the meaning behind Wake UP! in a nice nutshell as a rallying call to our 2020 selves; a reminder of what our core values are, packaged up in a glorious, sparkling record. “I hope I can inspire others to also search for their inner truths and find their own inner strength in the process,” English says. “I wanted to create something really dynamic, and kinda wild.”

And dynamic and wild it certainly is.