Live Review: Hachiku went to regional Queensland for 'Murray's Lullaby'

23-year-old German DIY songwriter and producer HACHIKU (aka Anika Ostendorf) typically records from whichever bedroom she happens to be living in at the time, recording last year’s debut EP across three countries over a span of three years. Eventually, this process saw her settle in Melbourne, where she found a regular four-piece band to help expand her sound. Then, Ostendorf’s application for an Australian visa necessarily sent her to regional Queensland to complete 3 months of farm work, from which her latest single, ‘Murray’s Lullaby’, was born.

Hachiku details how the track reflects the personal toll her 3-month sojourn took on her personal life: “The song deals with the isolation of a long-distance relationship, longing to be close to that person while living in the fear that you’ll forget the memories you made together”. The single also marks the first occasion in which Hachiku has worked alongside a mix engineer, employing the help of Tim Shiel to craft a dreamy synth-pop sound reminiscent of Beach House.

The track opens wistfully with a twinkling vibraphone lathered in reverb, before church choir harmonies, sitting far away in the mix, pan from left to right. The introduction makes the song feel large and melodramatic to the point of commemorative, but fuzzy electric pianos, Hachiku’s soft, vulnerable voice and cheap drum machines also give it the intimate homeliness of a Postal Service track. Tasteful touches of distorted guitar, however, stops the track’s stately instrumentation from feeling too meandering in their dreaminess, adding some nerves of raw emotion into the fold. A glistening, soaring synth ushers in the chorus, where some marching snares, tom-toms and rolling cymbals give perspective to the large-scale romanticism at the heart of the single – “I want to give you nothing to fear”.

Hachiku will be launching 'Murray's Lullaby' live on 2nd of March at the John Curtin Hotel in Melbourne - you can grab tickets for that here.

WORDS BY KYLE FENSOM

IMAGE: Supplied

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