Something Positive by Hazelene

“The track is great, gives me some early Lush vibes!” - Mark Gardener, Ride

“Something Positive” is the second single from California born, Leeds UK based solo artist Hazelene. It was recorded and mixed by Ian Flynn/Werkhouse Productions (Whitelands, Cheerless) and mastered by Mark Gardener (Ride) at OX4 Sound.

Something Positive shifts Hazelene into spooky psych shoegaze territory, drawing on recent psychedelic/rural folk gigs attended over the past year. “There’s a contemplative introspection, and mood building, that I love by artists such as Smote, R Loomes, and Lankum. I’m still heavily influenced by "sparse composition masters’ such as Spacemen 3 and Black Thumb, but I went heavier on this new track.”

The song grew from a sliding riff, written as a bassline that simply became the riff itself. “I’ve been gigging and playing pitch shifted guitar: this helped to solidify my decision that a guitar can be a bass; the line is blurred when you add pedals.”

Melodic dissonance and a “melted in the sun” Telecaster feel draw from Hazelene’s love of Swervedriver,. Bowery Electric, Maria Somerville, Alan Sparhawk, Midding, and fellow Leeds outfit Van Houton. “My sound is DIY through necessity, I lack skills to even collaborate productively but then there is no one looking over my shoulder admonishing me ‘you can’t do it like that.’ So if I smash a Frank Ocean bassline into a spooky psych shoegaze feel track, who will stop me? I consider myself an outlier, a Latino descendent expat in Yorkshire, and being neither here nor there played a factor.”

Bigger arrangements feature, but the loose DIY feel is retained. “There’s more complexity with vocal harmonies and intertwined guitar parts, but it’s all still me, playing all the instruments. Shockingly, I created my first real pedalboard this past year, finding a tone I like and making it permanent.”

Leeds based dreampop/psych/shoegaze solo artist.

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