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Liquorice(Secretly Canadian)
Add date: 11.11.2025
Release date: 11.7.2025
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Secretly Canadian
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The cover of Liquorice, the third album from Australian indie pop artist Hatchie, features a closely cropped portrait of Harriette Pilbeam laughing, her smudged red lipstick suggesting the glorious aftermath of a kiss. Captured during a spontaneous backyard photo shoot using a dinky digital camera, the image encapsulates a record that is rough around the edges and joyfully undone with themes of longing, lust, and regret.
Liquorice begins with “Anemoia,” a word that represents the feeling of nostalgia for something that has not yet happened. “You won’t always recognise when you’re meant to stay,” Pilbeam sings over tones as bittersweet as an aching memory. “Maybe the world you want has to slip away/But secretly you were happier all along.” Pilbeam was able to arrive at this place of self-acceptance only after surrendering to a stillness long avoided by constant motion. “I hadn't really lived my life outside of this project for a few years, so I had nothing to write about other than my life as a musician,” she says. “I needed time to sit with things after a whirlwind couple of years.”
In 2017, Pilbeam’s life changed dramatically when her first single, the glittery “Try” became an instant hit on Triple J, Australia’s premier youth radio station. 2018’s Sugar and Spice EP and her critically-acclaimed 2019 debut Keepsake introduced Hatchie to an international audience. “It was like being shot out of a cannonball,” Pilbeam recalls of those early years. Written during lockdown, Hatchie’s sophomore album, 2022’s glossy and cinematic Giving the World Away, captured the emotional turmoil Pilbeam felt around her artistry. After spending significant time in Los Angeles, Pilbeam and her bandmate-slash-longtime partner Joe Agius decided to step away from touring and return to Australia. “It was really scary to step away and slow down, because there's this constant feeling that everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve could disappear in the blink of an eye,” she says.
Back in the comfort of Australia, Pilbeam reassessed her priorities and focused on her relationships with friends and family. “Ultimately, the inspiration for the album came from living a very simple life and having time to reconnect with myself and be alone with my thoughts.” Liquorice reflects a woman increasingly comfortable in her own skin, no longer feeling the pressure to fit into a box or prove herself, whatever that even means.
Pilbeam began writing Liquorice in earnest while living in Brisbane over 2022-2023, and later at a home shared with Agius in Melbourne, ultimately completing the demos in mid-2024. As a musician who has previously worn her influences on her sleeve, Pilbeam strove to write from scratch without any specific musical influences in mind; allowing songs to breathe for weeks, rather than rushing ideas. She found herself drawn to the melodic simplicity of her early songs and embraced her musical insecurities: “I wanted to see my limitations as strengths that inform my style.”
After working with producers Jorge Elbrecht (Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast, Sky Ferreira) and Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan) on Giving the World Away, Pilbeam wanted to complete Liquorice with a single collaborator, ideally a non-male producer who also fronts their own musical project.
In September 2024, Pilbeam and Agius returned to Los Angeles to work with Melina Duterte, who records indie rock under the name Jay Som and has production credits on an assortment of projects including the GRAMMY-winning boygenius album the record. “I have been a huge fan of Jay Som since the early days. I knew that she’d understand what we were going for since her music shares a lot of the same yearning and romantic themes as mine,” says Pilbeam. “We spoke over a video call and she was super chill. She mentioned that was a fan of Hatchie too, and it just felt right.”
“Working with Hatchie on her new record was so fun! I’ve been a huge fan for the longest time and they were a huge influence for my song ‘Superbike,’” says Duterte. “Harriette is a very talented songwriter, singer, and musician and her voice is just otherworldly. I was so grateful to work with her in the studio!” After being recorded at Duterte’s home studio alongside Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Courtney Barnett) on drums, Liquorice was mixed by Alex Farrar (Wednesday, MJ Lenderman) at Asheville, North Carolina’s Drop of Sun studios, and mastered by Greg Obis (Dutch Interior, Slow Pulp, Wishy) in Chicago.
“My last album ended up being really dark and introspective and that is one part of me, but there was this whole other side that I felt like I wasn't expressing,” Pilbeam says. “I’m a hopeless romantic and a very silly person, sometimes to a fault.” Now 32 and married, Pilbeam found that “eternal feelings” of yearning and heartache quickly rushed back as she reflected on her experiences as a younger woman. At the same time, she channeled her fondness for tragic romance movies where the characters do not necessarily find a happy ending together, citing favorites like Before Sunrise, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, whose playful splashes of bright color informs Liquorice’s 1960s-inspired aesthetic.
Liquorice is preoccupied with the finite forever. “I was captivated by those fleeting moments that are so small in hindsight but fill up your whole world, like making eye contact with someone across a room and thinking about it for the rest of the night,” Pilbeam says. These songs capture the overwhelming, exhilarating, and transforming side-effects of infatuation, even if the entirety of the love story only lasts for one magical night. Full of shimmery guitars and beguiling textures, “Only One Laughing” evokes the euphoric excitement of early Hatchie songs. The hypnotic “Sage” surrenders to the delirium of desire after far too much hesitation while the Britpoppy “Lose It Again,” a co-write with Jeremy McLennan (Orchin), embraces earnest vulnerability while declaring “You're the star that I'm chasing.” Like the rich flavors of the twisty, titular candy——sweet, salty, and bitter all in one bite—Liquorice validates how longing and obsession are intertwined in the self-discovery of young womanhood.
-Quinn Moreland
Apple Music
Bandcamp
Secretly Canadian
Spotify
Tidal
YouTube
The cover of Liquorice, the third album from Australian indie pop artist Hatchie, features a closely cropped portrait of Harriette Pilbeam laughing, her smudged red lipstick suggesting the glorious aftermath of a kiss. Captured during a spontaneous backyard photo shoot using a dinky digital camera, the image encapsulates a record that is rough around the edges and joyfully undone with themes of longing, lust, and regret.
Liquorice begins with “Anemoia,” a word that represents the feeling of nostalgia for something that has not yet happened. “You won’t always recognise when you’re meant to stay,” Pilbeam sings over tones as bittersweet as an aching memory. “Maybe the world you want has to slip away/But secretly you were happier all along.” Pilbeam was able to arrive at this place of self-acceptance only after surrendering to a stillness long avoided by constant motion. “I hadn't really lived my life outside of this project for a few years, so I had nothing to write about other than my life as a musician,” she says. “I needed time to sit with things after a whirlwind couple of years.”
In 2017, Pilbeam’s life changed dramatically when her first single, the glittery “Try” became an instant hit on Triple J, Australia’s premier youth radio station. 2018’s Sugar and Spice EP and her critically-acclaimed 2019 debut Keepsake introduced Hatchie to an international audience. “It was like being shot out of a cannonball,” Pilbeam recalls of those early years. Written during lockdown, Hatchie’s sophomore album, 2022’s glossy and cinematic Giving the World Away, captured the emotional turmoil Pilbeam felt around her artistry. After spending significant time in Los Angeles, Pilbeam and her bandmate-slash-longtime partner Joe Agius decided to step away from touring and return to Australia. “It was really scary to step away and slow down, because there's this constant feeling that everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve could disappear in the blink of an eye,” she says.
Back in the comfort of Australia, Pilbeam reassessed her priorities and focused on her relationships with friends and family. “Ultimately, the inspiration for the album came from living a very simple life and having time to reconnect with myself and be alone with my thoughts.” Liquorice reflects a woman increasingly comfortable in her own skin, no longer feeling the pressure to fit into a box or prove herself, whatever that even means.
Pilbeam began writing Liquorice in earnest while living in Brisbane over 2022-2023, and later at a home shared with Agius in Melbourne, ultimately completing the demos in mid-2024. As a musician who has previously worn her influences on her sleeve, Pilbeam strove to write from scratch without any specific musical influences in mind; allowing songs to breathe for weeks, rather than rushing ideas. She found herself drawn to the melodic simplicity of her early songs and embraced her musical insecurities: “I wanted to see my limitations as strengths that inform my style.”
After working with producers Jorge Elbrecht (Caroline Polachek, Japanese Breakfast, Sky Ferreira) and Dan Nigro (Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan) on Giving the World Away, Pilbeam wanted to complete Liquorice with a single collaborator, ideally a non-male producer who also fronts their own musical project.
In September 2024, Pilbeam and Agius returned to Los Angeles to work with Melina Duterte, who records indie rock under the name Jay Som and has production credits on an assortment of projects including the GRAMMY-winning boygenius album the record. “I have been a huge fan of Jay Som since the early days. I knew that she’d understand what we were going for since her music shares a lot of the same yearning and romantic themes as mine,” says Pilbeam. “We spoke over a video call and she was super chill. She mentioned that was a fan of Hatchie too, and it just felt right.”
“Working with Hatchie on her new record was so fun! I’ve been a huge fan for the longest time and they were a huge influence for my song ‘Superbike,’” says Duterte. “Harriette is a very talented songwriter, singer, and musician and her voice is just otherworldly. I was so grateful to work with her in the studio!” After being recorded at Duterte’s home studio alongside Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint, Courtney Barnett) on drums, Liquorice was mixed by Alex Farrar (Wednesday, MJ Lenderman) at Asheville, North Carolina’s Drop of Sun studios, and mastered by Greg Obis (Dutch Interior, Slow Pulp, Wishy) in Chicago.
“My last album ended up being really dark and introspective and that is one part of me, but there was this whole other side that I felt like I wasn't expressing,” Pilbeam says. “I’m a hopeless romantic and a very silly person, sometimes to a fault.” Now 32 and married, Pilbeam found that “eternal feelings” of yearning and heartache quickly rushed back as she reflected on her experiences as a younger woman. At the same time, she channeled her fondness for tragic romance movies where the characters do not necessarily find a happy ending together, citing favorites like Before Sunrise, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, whose playful splashes of bright color informs Liquorice’s 1960s-inspired aesthetic.
Liquorice is preoccupied with the finite forever. “I was captivated by those fleeting moments that are so small in hindsight but fill up your whole world, like making eye contact with someone across a room and thinking about it for the rest of the night,” Pilbeam says. These songs capture the overwhelming, exhilarating, and transforming side-effects of infatuation, even if the entirety of the love story only lasts for one magical night. Full of shimmery guitars and beguiling textures, “Only One Laughing” evokes the euphoric excitement of early Hatchie songs. The hypnotic “Sage” surrenders to the delirium of desire after far too much hesitation while the Britpoppy “Lose It Again,” a co-write with Jeremy McLennan (Orchin), embraces earnest vulnerability while declaring “You're the star that I'm chasing.” Like the rich flavors of the twisty, titular candy——sweet, salty, and bitter all in one bite—Liquorice validates how longing and obsession are intertwined in the self-discovery of young womanhood.
-Quinn Moreland