Album Review: Big Sigh by Marika Hackman

By Soleil Caouette

Music Journalist

Known for her beautifully curated alternative indie songs, Marika Hackman brings something new to the table with her latest album, Big Sigh, released on Jan 10, 2024. 

Her last album, Any Human Friend, was released in 2019 and gained popularity around the UK and other surrounding countries. The fanbase describes Big Sigh as a combination of all of Hackman’s albums, which I agree with. The album has the perfect combination of somber and experimental beats. After ten years of releasing music, Hackman overdid herself with Big Sigh, and this album was just what we needed to close her decade off with. This album is full of dark and twisted feelings that create a new intensity to her music that her fanbase has never seen. 

Hackman usually creates music that would fit under the indie alternative and sometimes folk category, but with Big Sigh she has influences of punk-pop and experimental music. Throughout this album, she utilizes a wide range of reverbs and other electronically produced sounds to enhance her eerie songs. As time has progressed since her first album release back in 2013, she is starting to develop her unique style and you can see that with this new release. Her lyrics have gotten sadder, and the sounds have gotten darker, which I love! 

Do you know that feeling when you are extremely overwhelmed, scared, or sad about the state of the world?  Well, Hackman knows how to articulate all of these feelings perfectly, and luckily for you, she turned it into an album. This album emulates the rawness of being a human with a chaotic mind. She can create the sounds of thoughts racing and minds caving in on themselves.

In the song “No Caffeine,” Hackman uses upbeat instrumentals to juxtapose her depressing lyrics. Her writing is similar to my Notes app – where I tend to write down everything I think, feel or need to accomplish throughout the day. That realness grabbed my attention from the beginning. “No Caffeine” is a mystical reflection on how hard she tries to stay on track and in the lines, but ultimately gives in or surrenders to the vices. There is something so relieving about giving in to temptation or falling off the guided path, and this song captivates those feelings perfectly. 

If you like instrumental-based songs, I recommend listening to “The Ground” and “The Lonely House”.  These tracks at the beginning and middle of the album break up the tension and intensity of the songs, and I think was an intentional choice, beautifully curated. I haven’t seen such intense build-ups in her debut album, so the cool part is we see a new side of her in her work. 

Hackman uses subtle notes on a piano in the song “Slime” to paint serene imagery in one’s head, and as the music gets more intense, you start to feel unsure of what’s to come. She has a way of building up the feelings of anger and resistance to then surrender to those emotions. She waves a white flag after being destroyed by her mind. 

Even if you are not the type of person who loves melancholic music, Hackman made sure to have a diverse array of songs on this record with a more optimistic and upbeat cadence.