By Charlie Maybee
Washington D.C. based electro pop artist, HAEZL, dreams of apocalypse in her fifth single, “Ragnarök” which puts ethereal synthesizers and breathy harmonies at the forefront.
Given that the term Ragnarök refers to a series of catastrophic events in Norse mythology, one might expect something more raucous like fire and brimstone raining from the heavens, so it’s nice to hear HAEZL subvert any connotative expectations. “It would be great to watch the stars fall out and melt into the sun”, she sings lovingly in the first verse. The idea of world’s end has never sounded or felt as romantic as she makes it out to be, but there is something to be said about the inherent relief of a clean slate.
At the core of the songwriting process, HAEZL was pushing for genre experimentation. “I was highly influenced by downtempo electronica and trip hop groups like Massive Attack, Portishead, and Hooverphonic as a young adult. It was my dad who introduced me to the genre, and we spent time sharing new groups together as he played his “chill out” music throughout the house. The growth and development of HAEZL has seen me reminiscing in a number of genres that I love. Ragnarök was inspired by the ambient downtempo pop of the 1990s, and I am all for it.”
Topically, HAEZL hangs onto some of her metal background (she was previously the lead singer for STRYFE), but the way she has composed her brutality gives way to something more fluid like lava slowly making its way down a volcano. It’s infinitely dangerous, but there’s something beautiful about the way its destructive descent that is alluring and captivating.
“Ragnarök” is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, Pandora, Amazon Music, Deezer, and iHeartRadio. Find this and more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
