Album Review for CLASH Magazine: Harkin - Harkin

Published 23.4.21

Harkin’s self-titled solo offering has a professional, distinctive indie sound that immediately evokes echoes of Wolf Alice, Yeah Yeah Yeahs with a dash of Anna Calvi. As a member of Wild Beasts, Sleater-Kinney and Kurt Vile's touring bands, Harkin has established herself as a well-respected figure within the indie rock community.

Roughly, one can split the album in half:  the first half more upbeat floaty, slowly stripping back some of the upbeat riffs and introducing more minor keys – taking the listener to a more dream-like state.

Placing the record on we’re treated to ‘Mist On Glass’ which establishes a great bass groove that will get your feet tapping whilst the lyrics tell the story of unwarranted attention from admirer or ex on a night out in the States: “At worst you’re a duplicitous creep.” She strips back the rhythm guitar and the New-York-indie-Cindy-dancing-in-the-corner-flicking-your-vibe to actually reveal a solid songwriting ability underneath. 

It’s an accomplished album, but it feels like a debut and there is nothing here that gives any kind of excitement or majorly distinguishing feature that comes with time.

Also, and this is definitely not any fault of Harkin’s, she has released the album at a time when writing lyrics about social pressures and finding strength from within in face of it so distant compared to the situation we all find ourselves in now, that it’s really hard to empathise with this.It seems to harken back to a world that one can barely even remember.

This was written pre-pandemic and you can tell – the last thing one wants to hear is getting life lessons right now via dirge-y minor keys and soft indie tones to complex social situations that none of us can experience presently. Now, the great songs are standing up to the test of time as it gives you a place to insert yourself into the lyrics and actually get something from the song beyond an ambience at a gig that you know will never come.

This is what makes ‘Charm And Tedium’ and ‘Dial It In’ such effective songs. Any other time it would be a good album and something that needs a live tour to complement it, which one could imagine would be great. There is clearly a lot of emotion and self-reflection in the album that she wishes to impart on others, and special mentions should be given to ‘Red Virginia Creeper’s dystopian ambience, ‘Dial It In’s catchy and complex production and ‘Charm And Tedium’.

Indeed, there is no shame in saying that ‘Charm And Tedium’ seems to stand up to today’s crisis the most. The repeated “I’m not living my life for you” is a message that we can all take solace from as we try and make it through any challenges we face at the moment.