Hazel English Announces Her Debut Album Wake UP!, Shares New Single “Off My Mind”
Photo by Janell Shirtcliff
Australian-born, Los Angeles-based indie-pop singer-songwriter Hazel English is imploring listeners to Wake UP! on her forthcoming debut album, set for release on April 24 via Marathon/Polyvinyl. New single “Off My Mind” is out now, along with a slickly edited, ‘60s-infused music video.
“Off My Mind” follows “Shaking,” which English released back in November 2019, and like that track before it, the new song finds her moving from muffled dream-pop to polished, nostalgic rock that still overflows with breathy melody. “Every time we talk / I just don’t know what to say ‘cause / I’m caught in a moment in between,” sings English over chiming guitars, marching drums and soft electric piano stabs—meanwhile, the video’s whimsical retro footage takes us back through the decades, to simpler, sunnier-seeming times.
“‘Off My Mind’ is about feeling stuck in a situation but too afraid to make a move,” explains English in a statement. “It’s about the limbo state between where you are and where you want to be.”
Wake UP!—titled to serve as a clarion call to mindfulness and presence, even in the face of relentless anxiety and distraction—follows English’s pseudo-full-length debut, 2017 double EP Never Going Home / Just Give In. Justin Raisen (Angel Olsen, Charli XCX) produced the new album in L.A., as did Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Glass Animals, The Big Moon) in Atlanta.
