ARTICLE BY CHERYL CHENG
PHOTOS BY LESLIE KALOHI
JULY 19 | “I’m so stoked to be here,” exclaimed Hazel English to the packed crowd at her sold-out Bootleg Bar show. “We love L.A. We arrived today, and it was like, ‘Oh, it feels like summer.’ In the Bay [Area], it’s always freezing.” After performing at this venue in February, and now touring in support of her double EP Just Give In + Never Going Home, the Oakland-based Australian and her band were met by a joyously enthusiastic audience tonight. When one person cheered especially loudly, Hazel smiled and replied, “Yeah, let’s keep up the energy!”
This lively environment might be unexpected when considering Hazel English‘s dreamy pop songs, but, with the accompaniment of her talented band, the live experience of her music is a notably upbeat affair. In fact, several of the songs featured slight variations from the studio recordings, such as longer instrumental moments, which highlighted the band’s rhythm section (“Make It Better”) and intensive drumming (“Other Lives”).
Hazel English―named an artist to watch by Stereogum and one many have said is on a “meteoric rise” (just Google her name and those two words)―is charmingly humble and sincere in person. When asked by an audience member what was in the bottle she was drinking from, she replied, “It’s water. I hate to disappoint you. I should have thought of something more exciting, like juice.” After musing on the merits of juice, she jokingly concluded, “I’m really good at banter as you can tell.”
This down-to-earth relatability also is evident in Hazel English‘s song lyrics, which run the emotional gamut, from vulnerability (in “I’m Fine,” she sings: “I can’t deny I’m paralyzed from the inside. … And every time you ask me how I’m feeling, I just smile and tell you that I’m fine.”) to the struggle to face reality (the lyrics of “It’s Not Real” include, “All our lives we just keep searching for what does not exist. When will I be willing to finally admit it’s not real?”) and the contradictions of self-awareness (in “Make It Better,” she sings, “I want to be seen. Yet I want to be invisible. I want everything. Yet I want nothing at all.”). Her ability to pair guitar-driven, catchy pop music with heart-wrenching lyrics―she studied creative writing, after all―accounts for why she has been able to attract a steadily growing audience. Case in point: Her first two singles were streamed 1 million times on SoundCloud―even before she had a record deal.
This rising popularity was certainty evident tonight: When the band left the stage after the last song, the audience loudly applauded and cheered for more. To which, as the band returned to the stage, Hazel asked, in suitably modest fashion, “You want to hear another song? We weren’t really sure.” Before adding, “We just came out anyway.” The final song of the night was “That Thing,” for which she recently released a Twin Peaks-inspired music video. As the band attempted to leave the stage once more, the audience chanted in unison, “One more! One more!” But Hazel said with a laugh, “We don’t have any more … literally.” Judging by the demand, she could have performed one of her songs a second time, and the fans would have been just as delighted.
Set List
It’s Not Real
Make It Better
Other Lives
Fix
Control
Love Is Dead
Come On Let’s Go (Broadcast cover)
Birthday
More Like You
I’m Fine
Never Going Home
Encore
That Thing
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