With four EPs in the pocket, Chloe Hawes finally promotes to the full length format with the nine-song Remains/Reminders. It’s an excellent singer-songwriter indie punk folk record that distantly resembles Rocky Votolato but cranks up the volume and intensity.
You don’t need to read between the lines to feel the emotional weight of the themes explored in this record. Hawes’ voice alone conveys it all. It sounds sandpapered, bruised and battered, but vulnerable and gorgeous as well (like in First To Leave). Their voice plays a major role in why this collection of songs is so mesmerizing. When Hawes sings “Can’t you see, this don’t affect the life you lead. Me and my friends, just coz we don’t fit in the space between your binary bookends That’s alright. Yeah we didn’t choose this life. But that’s just fine. You can get on with yours without taking down mine,” these are no empty words, but lived experience. There is a realness and rawness in Hawes’ delivery on Remains/Reminders that makes it stand out.
Remains/Reminders is out now through Nasty Cut Records (EU), UTB Manchester (UK), Mt. Crushmore Records (US).
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