‘HAWK’ by HAWK (EP)

HAWK: schooled in the Radiohead vision of soaring alt-rock

On their latest EP, this soaring alt-pop group confirm they have the talent to match their darkly infectious musical grandiosity

Alt-pop quartet HAWK have been likened to Waxahatchee, Warpaint and Daughter. On their latest, self-titled, EP they demonstrate both that such comparisons do no disservice to them and that soon artists should be namechecking them.

It’s clear immediately that this is a group schooled in the Radiohead vision of soaring alt-rock, as heard in the epic atmospherics of The Hunt and Sleep. Despite their skill for the grandiose, the quartet still have a grizzly and infectious rift in them, with Once Told and Rattle squeaking them out between their celestial melodies.

Perhaps the band’s finest weapon is Julie Hawk’s voice: caught in between KatieJane Garside and Alison Shaw, it’s sweet, stoic, fragile and esoteric enough to make you wonder if Hawk spends whole weekends staring between her fingers with a mad grin illuminating her eyes.

HAWK features the production talents of Dimitri Tikovoï (Placebo) and mixing skills of Catherine Marks (Wolf Alice), and both have been utilised expertly to produce a sound that’s darkly welcoming. This superb EP will certainly appeal to fans of epic and dreamy alt-pop and marks HAWK out as a talent to keep your eye on.

Verdict: Soaring alt-pop with a vocal weapon

Damien Girling

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