Hazel English - Control

Jangly guitars and dreamy synths are Hazel English’s current trademarks. Working with Jackson Phillips, aka Day Wave, right now she’s rooted to the California coast - never a tricky subject to fall for.

Without dismissing her early work as a “phase”, there remains a sense that Hazel English could try her trade at a whole lot more. The melodies she toys with could be lent to all-out pop bangers. Or she could go the other way entirely, shrouding recordings in layer-upon-layer of added reverb, to the point of Grouper-like abstraction. New song ‘Control’, in other hands, would be delivered to Taylor Swift in a signed-for package. It’s an effortlessly slick, hook-stuffed triumph. And it’s an outlier in the game. For every ten thousand beach-pop bands who mumble their words and dodge purpose, there’s one Hazel English.