Out today via V2 Records, Bloom Mountain is Australian-born indie-folk artist Hazlett’s stunning debut album, showcasing his undoubtable talent as a writer and desire to dance with the details.
“I wanted to write this album differently, Hazlett says, “the songs are conversations being retold by a friend of a friend,” he reveals. “Anytime you pass another person’s story on, you embellish certain moments because those are the moments worth retelling. Certain details get a little hazy, and some are vivid as if they happened yesterday.”
Conversations connect us. We relate through the exchange of ambitions, thoughts, experiences, and emotions. Hazlett’s music unfurls like a late-night chat between friends where the only thing stronger than the last sip of coffee is the candour. The Stockholm-based multi-instrumentalist converses through eloquent folk-style songcraft laced with electronic flourishes and alternative experimentation. After amassing well over 40 million streams and earning acclaim from NME, The Line of Best Fit, Atwood Magazine, Clash, and more, he brings everyone into the discussion on his full-length debut album Bloom Mountain.
Bloom Mountain features several beautifully intimate yet expansive songs, such as ‘Please Don’t Be’. Punctuated by the echoes of airy production, lightly plucked acoustic guitar reverberates beneath breathy verses before a hypnotic hook takes hold where he pleads, “Please don’t be in love with someone else.” On ‘Oh, Downhill’, his vocals wrap around a minor guitar melody as he examines “the cycle of why we run back to things we know are bad for us.” The pensive ‘Even If It’s Lonely’ sees him long for familiarity in a fit of homesickness underlined by his dynamic delivery.
Meanwhile, on the delicate track ‘Hesitate’, which features Austrian labelmate OSKA, Hazlett’s high register rings out, as he wonders “If this is the end, then why do we hesitate?”.
Hazlett’s brand of ballroom indie folk and vast nostalgia will fill your heart but let you cry. This modern-day nomad has been earning a place in punters' hearts with his live appearances and fondness of an intriguing story. From his stunning debut EP Honey, Where Is My Home to the dream-induced follow-up Thundering Hopes, Hazlett has an affinity for dancing the line of “my life is a mess” to “everything happens for a reason” and making you feel a part of it all. After ghost-writing and playing in various rhythm sections for most of his formative years, the shy guy from Brisbane found a creative home in the farthest of places, Sweden. Hazlett packed up his things and now resides in Stockholm where his solo project was founded with the help of close friend and producer Freddy Alexander. Writing with his gut and heart like a troubadour of old and combining it with the modern sonic landscape that dances in his head things are blooming in his new-found home in the Northern Hemisphere. Hazlett’s has so far released two well received EPs, toured across Europe, Australia and grew a close-knit family of people he trusts in his adopted home. “As much as Hazlett is me, I think anything good in life is better when you let people in”. With that team spirit in mind, they all made the decision at the start of the pandemic to pause everything, bunker down and work on Hazlett’s first full-length album Bloom Mountain.
