aaamusic | On 31, Jan 2011

Despite being new on the scene, London-based Lily And The Hackabouts offer up a fey charm on their song ‘La Brunette’, a dreamy little cut of indie pop that charms its way into your heart with ease. First impressions are of a pastel-hued shoegaze track with its ethereal guitars and muted drum buildup, but then the song starts in full, and we are treated to a gossamer-delicate yet beautifully sunny pop number with jangling acoustic chords and bluesy pop electric melody that brings to mind blissed-out 1980s post-punk, blended with the current obsession with ethereal folkiness. The mixing is well-balanced, with the instruments never overpowering one another, and the tuneful and attention-grabbing vocals are placed just far forwards enough to stand out against the thickly textured jangling sounds, but not obtrusively so. There’s a sense of halcyon wistfulness at play here, and the end result is a bittersweet, dreamlike four minutes that hint at a bright future for both Lily and all the Hackabouts involved.

Author: Katie H-Halinski