One thing I can say with total confidence, is that Marika Hackman’s next record will be very good indeed. It may even be her first masterpiece. But do we want to exist in a world where a masterpiece album doesn’t scratch the top 40 or pay for on stage luxuries such as towels? No we do not. Let’s fix that, then…
What a strange time to be an artist. On the one hand, you can be four albums into your career and progressing creatively. On the other hand, you can be worried about how to pay for towels.
Welcome to Marika Hackman’s world.
These are the days of the liberated, independent artist. In control of their music and career, the independent artist calls the toss on both sides of the coin - namely making the best music they can and also keeping one eye on the finances. It may surprise you - as it did me - that an artist of the standing of Marika Hackman is just about breaking even on her latest tour - a modest run of UK and European dates. Isn’t the live circuit how artists make a living? Not these days.
We need this to change. Because we deserve another four Marika Hackman albums, at least. Critically revered from her debut, the consensus (I read every review I can set eyes on) is that Hackman’s 4th studio album Big Sigh is her best work to date.
It’s true. Big Sigh has everything a 4th album should have. Really good songs, good scheduling, sophisticated arrangements (brass and strings accompany many tracks). The album has variety - from the mysterious instrumental interludes of The Ground and The Lonely House (opening sides A and B of my/your bottle green vinyl copy) to stand out singles (Slime, No Caffeine) to epic album tracks (Hanging, The Yellow Mile). It has an impressive musicality and most of all, it has real depth. A truly great album is one you can climb into. Every listen reveals something new. Keep listening and your favourite songs will shuffle around changing places like a game of musical chairs. That’s Big Sigh. A record such as this, in 2024, can reach a fleeting and lofty height of number 67 on the UK chart. So what’s wrong with the system here?
“Everything gets put on the little guy. Why has it become about artists and fans rather than labels driving the commerce? There should be a mutual respect between artist and fan, do they really want to see me on a selfie cam sending out a faceless message?”
But for an artist like Hackman, such frustration fights it out with gratitude on a daily basis. After all, she can make (expensive) records, get paid advances and take a full band on tour. Many ‘middle class’ artists operating in the same commercial layer as Marika cannot quite make it there.
What qualifies as the next level in this weird multi-level reality video game we call a career in music?
“It’s hard to break that ceiling to that next level - where it can run by itself - you need people to invest in you over the longer term, not just for one tour. As artists we need to value ourselves more. We need to stop showing the industry that we are worthless. There can’t be an industry without us”.
There are no guarantees here. Marika is managed, and she has dedicated bandmates. She is signed to a good label and publisher and she has a core of very loyal fans. But none of them can guarantee when or even if that next-level recognition will come.
One of the ‘secrets’ to longevity is melding your influences into something uniquely you, “altering the DNA and turning it into a higher art form” as succinctly put by Roland Orzabal (Season 3, ep. 4, Tears For Fears). Marika does that so well. Listening to Hackman you will hear Radiohead, The Shins, Elliott Smith (many of her influences are worn on her sleeve so to speak - just check out her superb 2020 Covers album). But there are just so many varied influences on her work by artists that cross generations (including the music her parents listened to). However, it makes perfect sense that Marika mentions Laura Veirs prominently in the mix, too.
With Veirs, as with Hackman - we are invited into an intimate musical world, with highly personal, sometimes visceral lyrics, complex yet ear-friendly musical arrangements, intricate yet imperfect guitar playing (the best kind, surely). Somehow both offer a strange, cold comfort.
Yet even Veirs might not offer too much by way of advice on what next level success means - since Laura’s own music industry journey has been a bumpy, creeky roller coaster ride. Indeed, Veirs is now as direct-to-fan as artists can be, with regular Instagram notices for her masterclass sessions in everything from aspects of songwriting to arts and crafts.
Hackman also studied fine art. Does she ever think a career in fine art would have been better? It was a question on my list that I didn’t get to ask. Let’s just hope the answer is no, for the time being.
“Whenever I sit down to do a new record, it’s always about being better than the last one. To hear people say that my music has progressed to a new phase is like fuel to my fire. It’s lonely making records on your own, you can easily lose perspective”.
One thing we can say with total confidence however, is that Marika Hackman’s next record will be very good indeed. It may even be her first masterpiece. But do we want to exist in a world where a masterpiece record doesn’t scratch the top 40 or pay for on stage luxuries such as towels? Not on your life! Despite the challenges of fighting her way up to the next tier, the immediate future is enticing for Marika and fans:
“I feel like I’ve got songs that are more classic that are yet to come. I used to dream about making a record that would transcend a generation, but now I just want to make a record that sounds like a classic record to me”.
The rest is down to us.
Big Sigh is here. Marika Hackman tours the USA in Autumn 2024.