It starts with a gentle piano figure and Marika Hackman's sombre vocals — things feel like they're entering pillowy ballad territory until a jittery guitar leaps into the fold, prodded along by a sharp, tinny drumbeat. "No Caffeine" only builds from there, layering bursts of horn, swipes of synth, thunderous chords and whirling strings into the mix.
Crucially though, Hackman never overloads the song's brittle scaffolding; each sound is given space to seethe and throw itself around as Hackman runs through a grocery list of attempted speed bumps on the way to anxious collapse — "Occupy your mind / Don't stay home / Talk to all your friends / But don't Look at your phone," she sings with measured weariness. The stakes heighten as the song grows in scope, Hackman clamouring to pull the brake on this inevitable crash: "Make a herbal tea / Don't throw up / Remember how to breathe / Maybe try and fuck / Stay away from love / Maybe take your clothes off."
Hackman's first release for Chrysalis Records, "No Caffeine" is a concise, nasty little gem of a song, the kind of endlessly replayable downward spiral that doesn't let up the tension for even a second. Just when you think a big ol' rocking climax is on the horizon, Hackman diffuses everything into a sweeping field of strings; the relief never comes, but Hackman makes the sweaty, head-spinning journey sound somehow appealing.
(Chrysalis)Crucially though, Hackman never overloads the song's brittle scaffolding; each sound is given space to seethe and throw itself around as Hackman runs through a grocery list of attempted speed bumps on the way to anxious collapse — "Occupy your mind / Don't stay home / Talk to all your friends / But don't Look at your phone," she sings with measured weariness. The stakes heighten as the song grows in scope, Hackman clamouring to pull the brake on this inevitable crash: "Make a herbal tea / Don't throw up / Remember how to breathe / Maybe try and fuck / Stay away from love / Maybe take your clothes off."
Hackman's first release for Chrysalis Records, "No Caffeine" is a concise, nasty little gem of a song, the kind of endlessly replayable downward spiral that doesn't let up the tension for even a second. Just when you think a big ol' rocking climax is on the horizon, Hackman diffuses everything into a sweeping field of strings; the relief never comes, but Hackman makes the sweaty, head-spinning journey sound somehow appealing.
