Sugar Blind

Marika Hackman’s striking folk-poetry is set to return this Winter, with the release of her ‘Sugar Blind’ EP to follow up March’s mini-album ‘That Iron Taste’.
Working with producer Charlie Andrews again, Marika’s vivid and gritty emphasis has been channelled once more, and whilst it’s a step into grungier experimentation, it retains the chilling ability to stir you as a listener, deep within.
On lead track ‘Cinnamon’ the moody riffs are subduing, and warped synths rumble sinfully. Summoning this dour feeling – the beginnings of which even she does not seem to be able to place – the majestic arrangements that Andrews has helped her curate are entrancing, as she soothes in her deep tones “the radio plays my favourite song, we can listen until our minds go numb”. This is no pop record though, no matter how compatible that lyric seems with pop.
Lucid moments of Haim-like drumming and tender, resonating chords lighten the mood in dramatic fashion, as ‘Cinnamon’ gives another glimpse at Marika’s direction. She may still be pushing for her music to reach a new destination, but she’s already sounding a whole lot more liberated, even without vocalising such aspirations lyrically.