Australian dream-pop Hatchie, Harriette Pilbeam, has made her glorious return with single "Only One Laughing," taken from her forthcoming album Liquorice, out November 7. Produced by Melina Duterte (Jay Som), the track is considered a return to the melodic directness that initially drew listeners into Hatchie's hazy world, but this time, with an added sense of peace and clarity.
"Only One Laughing," from the first breath, feels like a sigh of release. With Stella Mozgawa's steady drumming providing the song a heartbeat both human and hypnotic, Duterte's home-studio production keeps everything sweetly intimate. It's scarce, yes, but never barren. Every note hums with purpose, as if sunlight's found the way through a rainy window.
The song is a screaming paradox, a longing for joy amidst all the chaos. Hatchie's voice floats, somewhere between the clouds and the flat earth, delivered with quiet defiance. The "only one laughing," not in ignorance, it's almost a survival mechanism, an ability to reject being swallowed up by the dark of the world. The result is part soft revolt, part cozy embrace.
"Only One Laughing" sounds like a salve to all the modern noise, a place to exhale when everything else feels like too much. It doesn't scream for attention, but it beckons you to listen in this intimate way, to rest in simplicity.