Ordinary is a word that you definitely wouldn’t use to describe Hazlett. Since the release of his 2016 debut, the Brisbane local has been stitching his songs with all wakes of life, romanticising even our most mundane experiences. His new EP Thundering Hopes takes this ethos into the stratosphere.
With an acoustic guitar, ethereal runs, and a mantra for “finding the beauty in the banalities of modern life”, Thundering Hopes opens the Hazlett project into an infinity. The record boasts a raw honesty and introspection that many artists take an entire career to craft. It’s the artist entering into the dawn.
Brisbane native Hazlett has reached for the stars with his latest EP, and succeeded. Thundering Hopes is an explosive tale of self-discovery. The melodies are ethereal, the lyricism is refreshing; it’s his most passionate work yet.
Produced alongside the talented Freddy Alexander, Thundering Hopes is the natural progression from Hazlett’s debut EP. While Honey, Where Is My Home traversed the abrasions of a breakup, this new release takes the audience on a journey of reconciliation. Whether that be reconciliation with the triteness of the world, with life, within his battered self, Hazlett manages to find peace in glistening melodies, and an unbounded ambience. It’s the kind of music that you have to close your eyes too.
The EP’s opening track Fireworks poetically bridges the gap between these two releases, seeking clarity in the aftermath of pain. Whilst rooting the song in humble acoustic melodies, the songwriter unravels his lyricism through immense production. It’s a tale of letting go, coming to peace with the end of a relationship set aside a cosmic soundscape. An immaculate dream that offers all the answers, allowing you to finally pause before you wake.
“It’s about those moments when you move on and feel normal again,” Hazlett explains about the EP. “The times when you live a little reckless. The way you bury certain feelings to protect yourself. Nights when you wonder if it’s okay to be selfish and mornings when you notice nothing’s a waste of time. It’s a collection of stories about fumbling your way to feeling good again and how living’s never perfect, but you can make it pretty.”
Whilst the entire EP sustains Firework’s sonic divinity, each track navigates a different corner of the songwriter’s realisation. Where Suncats celebrates the holiness of every day through uplifting refrains, Monsters punches through with watery hooks, exploring prejudice and our warped perceptions of others. Each of these images all leading to the final track Karaoke, a delicate sojourn through love and loyalty that just happens to be inspired by a hectic night out with Lindsay Lohan. You heard right.
Thundering Hopes is the oasis of reformation that many of us need right now. The 6-track collection inherently boasts an intuition that we spend our lives searching for, weaving lyricism amongst universally vivid imagery. Add on Hazlett’s sonic instinct and each track elevates from poignant to celestial: a mantra that will guide you through the darkest hours into the light. It’s undeniably formidable.
Thundering Hopes is now available on all platforms.
