☭ marselip0910 叶俊华™

Little Sister
Alternative rock/Indie rock
2009/10/19

1.White
2.Alexander


3.Straight Lines
4.New Worlds
5.Firebird
6.Full Circle
7.Little Sahara
8.Colours
9.Cinnabar
10.Wrong Notes

A punk rocker since the age of 15, Charlotte Hatherley’s been through the rock gamut of the U.K. and out the other end. Formerly of the Irish indie rock band Ash, Hatherley balanced her career as a band member and solo artist until 2006, in preparation of her second release, The Deep Blue. Now on her third solo album, and also the guitarist for Bat for Lashes, on New Worlds Hatherley alternates between more upbeat numbers heavy on electric guitar, and soft, playful tracks aided by xylophone. Frontloaded with its first two singles, the album features “White,” where Hatherley channels PJ Harvey through pop’s rose-colored glasses and “Alexander,” a plinky, childlike treat.

“New Worlds” demonstrates not only Charlottes’ gifts as a great lyricist and guitarist but it also showcases her ability to effortlessly merge and slip into various musical genres and styles whilst still producing an album that works as a cohesive whole. Album opener ‘White,’ is all angular, with jagged guitar riffs that are underpinned by driving rhythms that could quite easily be Elastica if they’d managed to produce better tunes. Latest single ‘Alexander’ starts off innocently enough with a melodic, slightly twee acoustic intro but the song really explodes into life when the chorus kicks in, whilst ‘Straight Lines’ is pure melodious jump up and down new wave/punk. Thematically the album appears to be centred on a quest for veracity, a desire to slowly peel away layers and reveal some kind of inner truth whilst colours are deftly employed as an important descriptive tool, used to highlight moods, emotions and personality traits.

Hatherley isn’t afraid to experiment either, for example the slightly kooky ‘Firebird’ is the sort of quintessential eccentric English pop song that recalls Ray Davies with his modus operandi setting cranked up to "whimsical." It shouldn't really work, yet Hatherley pulls it off with great charm and skill. The albums title track ‘New Worlds’ is part XTC, part Chrissie Hynde yet remains unmistakably Charlotte, and it’s when Charlotte “rocks” that her unique guitar playing style can really be appreciated. There’s not a bad track on the album and songs like ‘Full Circle’ and ‘Little Sahara’ merely serve to confirm the view that we should really bestow the title of 'national treasure' on Ms Hatherley and give thanks that the music world is still home to innovation and genuine talent. The albums final track ‘Wrong Notes’ make you want to grab Cowell by his aesthetically ignorant lug holes and roar “Damn it man, THIS is real music, not Robson and funking Jerome!”