What is the sound of the reckoning of arriving at a future you were always travelling towards?
On False Dogs, Marika Hackman’s fifth album, she navigates the spectrum of emotions felt upon reaching milestones in your life previously imagined as a child.
Produced, arranged and written by Marika herself, False Dogs is her most assured and emotionally affecting record yet: an intimate album about the beauty and anxieties of mid-thirties malaise. When the hedonistic romanticism of your twenties melts away; the stark reality of grief and a deeper understanding of the passage of time appears. The album references the imagined worlds often dreamed of as a child: the structures and ‘false gods’ unquestioningly believed in and so comfortably put aside with the wisdom of age. The playful spelling error of False Dogs acts as a nod to this changeability of our dreams, desires and belief systems.
“Life has an arc of a carefree kid, to wild teenager, messy fun twenties, to getting married, having kids, jobs, responsibility…but actually that’s not life. Life is joy, grief, anxiety, love and small moments – all of the things in between these perceived milestones,” says Marika.
Known as much for her unique lyrical perspective, distinctive vocals and subtle guitar work; Marika’s deft multi-instrumentalism has gone quietly unnoticed on previous albums, having played almost every instrument across her catalogue — with the exception of her collaboration
with friends The Big Moon on reactionary ‘I’m Not Your Man’ and the sweeping orchestral moments on Big Sigh. This understanding of the tone and character of a wide instrumental range informed the intricate arrangements found across False Dogs.
Almost completely acoustic, immediate drums interlock with syncopated mandolins whilst earthy sub harmonium tones provide a backbone to urgent pianos.
