Just Give In/Never Going Home [Colored Vinyl] [180 Gram in Bloomington, MN

When
Hazel English
moved to the Bay Area from her native Australia, she came with the purpose of furthering her studies in literature. She soon began making music instead and hooked up with
Day Wave
's
Jackson Phillips
to collaborate on a sound not too dissimilar from what
Phillips
was doing: straightforward indie pop with reverb-heavy guitars, sweeping synth pads, and machine-driven beats, sounding like a slightly more polished version of bands
Captured Tracks
might sign (e.g,
Beach Fossils
,
Nic Hessler
). The difference in
English
's case is that it's anchored by her brightly melancholy voice and introspective lyrical slant. The first songs
released on the Internet reached a surprisingly large audience, and the release of the
Never Going Home
EP in 2016 gave people an idea of just how good her songs and the duo's production could be. In 2017,
signed to
Polyvinyl Records
and re-released that EP, plus another one she recorded afterwards,
Just Give In
. The sound didn't change much, though maybe it became a bit more atmospheric and
's vocals a little more assured. Her pop bona fides were in place right away, and both the first EP and the follow-up are filled with sneaky hooky songs that have a very pleasing warmth and depth. There is nothing jarring on either, and they both work as smooth background music and delightfully unassuming pop songs. The only track that stands out is the bonus track that ends the collection. Produced by a guy,
Justin Raisen
, whose CV includes
Charli XCX
and
Sky Ferreira
, "That Thing" is a little too slick and too close to the mainstream to really capture
's homespun charms. Ignoring that one misstep, the rest of
Just Give In/Never Going Home
is a strong introduction to
and her quietly impressive brand of indie pop. ~ Tim Sendra