The singer/songwriter breathes a sigh of relief to realize that the problems haven’t gone away after that. The result: paranoia pop for the pointless search for salvation.
Just no caffeine! Maybe a glass of wine, better herbal tea. And definitely stay away from the fun! Marika Hackman gave the protagonist of the song “No Cafeine” a to-do list to prevent what you see in the video for the song: getting a bloody nose. But the strategy doesn’t work, the protagonist is caught on the wrong foot: “And now we’re doing it all the time / We only have the night.”
The British Marika Hackman is a master of such survival songs, and BIG SIGH is her best record because the pressure of suffering increases. Which is also down to her: After the sex-is-fun album ANY HUMAN FRIEND from 2019, she ran out of ideas and a cover record bridged the time. When inspiration returned, the great sigh followed.
BIG SIGH is a no-bullshit singer/songwriter masterpiece
Every blocked blockage that is solved is followed by the fear of a new one, and it is precisely this ambivalent mood that characterizes this album. Hackman has a dry sense of humor, but sometimes you don’t smile at her directness because you’re genuinely touched. “Mum says I’m a waste of skin / A sack of shit and oxygen,” she sings at the start of “Vitamins,” a gut-wrenching ballad with Justin Vernon-esque modern-pop tricks.
The lyrics rival the quality of Sufan Stevens’ family constellation album CARRIE AND LOWELL. Hackman follows the vulgar song “Slime”: “Fingers pulling triggers”, it is unclear whether sex is a release or a substitute act: “So show me round your garden of slime / And I’ll show you mine.” BIG SIGH is a no-bullshit singer/songwriter masterpiece.