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Marika Hackman: Big Sigh review – a sombre, introspective return
The singer-songwriter finds horror-movie material in the everyday with a record of quiet, visceral power
Trapped in her own thoughts over lockdown, the Hampshire-born singer-songwriter forced her way through creative deadlock until she had a breakthrough that resulted in her first album of original material since 2019’s acclaimed Any Human Friend. But where its predecessor was louche and hook-driven, this fourth studio album skulks deeper into her psyche, its occasional moments of catharsis upended by sombre piano interludes and bleak lyricism. Hackman’s unease makes itself felt from the bitter little chuckle that opens The Lonely House to the half-despairing pep talks she feeds herself in No Caffeine: “Scream into a bag, try to turn your brain off,” she murmurs over a pummelling bassline.
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