Hattie Briggs - Say Goodbye

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 31 / 5 / 2018

Label: Wise Dog Records
Format: Download

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Second of five planned singles for 2018 from singer/songwriter Hattie Briggs finds her adding electronic touches to her sound and reaching new heights

Gloucester’s Hattie Briggs releases her second single of 2018; the singer-songwriter has five planned in total for this year. With two full-length albums and more than a dozen singles and EPs already released, Hattie has shown time and time again that she is far from just another of the folk-inspired performers who are vying for our attention right now. While Hattie has many contemporaries who, for the moment, seem to be quite happy to follow the more traditional folk route with their music (and are making some stunning music in doing so), it has seemed that Hattie has, even from the beginning, tried to push the boundaries of her music and sound while never betraying her folk roots. Hattie Briggs has the voice. It is crystal clear yet so very English and warm and, although it’s now something of a cliché to say so, that voice draws the listener into Hattie’s world for the duration of her song. It touches and moves the listener every time. Then there are her lyrics; without wishing to sound in the least patronising, the short press sheet for this release informs us that Hattie is still only 25 years old. While the emotions of the lyrics of ‘Say Goodbye’ could have been experienced by any number of people the same age as Hattie, very few could articulate them as well as Hattie has here. That’s a talent Hattie has shown since her very first recordings; that she wraps her words in melodies that are immediately pleasing and unforgettable is a bonus. ‘Say Goodbye’ is, to quote Hattie, “it’s the most pop record I’ve put out and my slickest recording to date as well as some of my best songwriting.” I guess we all have differing views of what pop music is. ‘Say Goodbye’ is deeper and carries more weight than what this set of ears would usually consider pop music. As for being Hattie’s slickest recording so far, none of her commercially released music has ever been less than slick but, even given her past songwriting achievements, this song really does rank up there as one of her best. Maybe the fact that, once again Hattie has tried a slightly new direction with this release prompted her to class ‘Say Goodbye’ as a pop song. On this single Hattie has taken a slight electronic direction that she hasn’t explored so fully on past releases. And it works brilliantly, which makes ‘Say Goodbye’ still shine out brightly in a body of work that is littered with gems. In keeping with current trends it appears that ‘Say Goodbye’ is only available as a download or stream just now; we live in hope that Hattie will eventually release the digital singles she releases this year as an album we can hold and cherish, as songs of this quality should be at some point in time. In the meantime we should be thankful to have ‘Say Goodbye’ available in any format, it’s one of Hattie’s most affecting songs so far. We mentioned that with her last single, ‘Early Girl’, Hattie had reached new heights with her songwriting and singing; she’s just moved even further up the ladder.

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