Hatchie, the project of Australian singer-songwriter Harriette Pilbeam, released new album Liquorice, on November 7 via Secretly Canadian.
Since its release, Liquorice has landed to warm acclaim — currently holding an 81 “universal acclaim” Metascore from critics. (Metacritic)
Critics hail the album as a confident evolution for Hatchie: less about flashing pop hooks and more about deep, immersive atmosphere. NME praises the record as a “shoegaze reinvention to soundtrack an endless summer,” noting that on her third album, “Harriette Pilbeam doesn’t just ape her influences, but channels them with stunning nuance and empathy.”
That sense of maturity and intimacy is echoed by The Guardian, which describes Liquorice as a more “mature and less immediately palatable” shift — a brooding, emotionally complex soundscape that trades the candy-floss hooks of her early work for something darker and more introspective.
Production and songwriting are at the centre of the praise. According to Under the Radar, the album “radiates a wistful warmth and a nostalgic sense of longing,” built from layered reverb-heavy guitars and dreamy textures that retain clarity and emotional punch.
Clash calls Liquorice “poignant, poetic — and above all else, utterly hypnotic,” spotlighting Hatchie’s increasingly sophisticated command of melody and mood.
Meanwhile, The Line of Best Fit argues the album is Hatchie’s “most vulnerable and earnest record,” capturing an emotional honesty that feels like the culmination of everything she’s built across her career.
Sonically, reviewers emphasise the album’s shoegaze and alt-pop lineage — dreamy, shimmering guitars, hazy dream-pop vocals and wistful synths that nod to Cocteau Twins, The Sundays and Slowdive. The Skinny highlights tracks such as ‘Lose It Again,’ ‘Part That Bleeds,’ and the closer ‘Stuck’ for balancing “bittersweet longing” with “euphoric swells.”
Overall, critics agree that Liquorice is a seductive, emotionally rich and beautifully textured step forward — a record that both consolidates Hatchie’s dream-pop identity and pushes her further into deeper, darker territory. As Clash puts it, it’s Hatchie “at her best yet.”
Hatchie
Liquorice
Tracklist:
- Anemoia
- Only One Laughing
- Liquorice
- Carousel
- Sage
- Someone Else’s News
- Wonder
- Lose It Again
- Anchor
- Part That Bleeds
- Stuck
Hatchie Online
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