Review by Sean Lynch

RIYL: Låpsley, Jessica Pratt, Nico

Recommended Tracks: “Ophelia”, “Drown”, “Open Wide”

Marika Hackman is unlike any of her counterparts in Folk. With her emergence into the Folk world through her four extended plays and featured on alt-J song “Warm Foothills,” with her work being considered Nu-Folk. Through the release of We Slept At Last, we see how innovative Hackman is with the Folk genre with the incorporation of instruments that are not traditional to Folk and a Grunge style of vocals.

“Ophelia” is the most natural sounding song off of We Slept At Last. Many of the songs off of the album are synth-heavy, but this song does not utilize that and instead uses the power of Hackman’s voice to carry the song along. The guitar consists of a simple strumming and provides background to the singing instead of prominent. For a darker song, Hackman has a silvery voice that is pleasant rather than rough and helps create an intriguing mixture.

“Drown” was a song that carries the dark style of folk. The song is extremely synth-heavy and the use of autotune is quite prominent. There is an atmospheric feeling to the song because of the synthesizer as well as the auto tune. Hackman’s voice still carries that lightness and crispness throughout the album, but this song provides us with the best example of her voice.

We Slept At Last is a new take on folk music through the genre of Nu-Folk. Marika Hackman has set a new standard with the implementation of grunge into folk creating a unique sound and her own style. If you are looking for something interesting and new, then We Slept At Last would be of great interest to you.