Whatever else you say about HATS™, you can’t say that their work rate isn’t impressive. Not only four releases in three months but four singles more than worthy of the status, something rare in the modern age where artists seem happy to put any and every single artistic urge and half-formed sonic creation out even as the ink is still drying on the press release.
“forest floor” sees HATS™ again head into that lilting and lovely place where modern indie-folk and timeless fairy tale narratives meet, a sonic blend that shaped earlier single “hand me downs” and which also echoed through the music of their previous musical vehicle, Vienna Ditto.
As the shimmering sonics and lilting electronica, that chiming acoustic folk vibe, and the seductive vocals once again weave dreamscapes around the listener, you realize that HATS™ has pulled off a fantastic trick and “forest floor” is made from musical strands that are about as cutting edge as it gets whilst simultaneously tapping into timeless folk traditions.
And the great thing is that so deftly and delicately does HATS™ pull off this creative coup, so subtle is this sonic Trojan Horse, so unexpected is this assault on the establishment that those gatekeepers of the folk-o-sphere, usually a guy called Brian sporting a pipe, beard, and cable knit sweater with a ready anecdote about Kate Rusby and a copy of Leaf and Liege under his arm, won’t even realize that the revolution has started.
Never has storming the barricades been such an elegant and seductive process.
