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Jan 16, 2024The album fades out gently, a dissipation of tension and emotion that you don’t realise is cathartic until it’s over – for this reason, Big Sigh doesn’t just feel like Hackman’s best, but it feels like a distinct chapter marker in her catalogue. She closes the last decade stunningly, and nudges open the next.
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Jan 22, 2024This might sound like hard work, but in Hackman’s hands, dark and troubling scenarios are anything but. It’s testament to the sheer brilliance of her songwriting that can address difficult issues and still manage to make them sound positive and hopeful.
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Jan 16, 2024It’s a very good set of songs, sleek and wrenching at the same time.
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Jan 16, 2024But where its predecessor was louche and hook-driven, this fourth studio album skulks deeper into her psyche, its occasional moments of catharsis upended by sombre piano interludes and bleak lyricism.
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Jan 12, 2024Maybe Hackman just needed a little break before delivering her most compelling album to date.
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Jan 10, 2024Perhaps her most personal, but also her most diverse.
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UncutJan 9, 2024Skillfully blending soft and harsh sonic moments: heartbreak, anxiety, lust. [Jan 2024, p.30]
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MojoJan 9, 2024The former Bedales pupil's steely vocals and ear for a big melody amidst the intricacy offer a unifying and satisfying undertow. [Feb 2024, p.88]
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Jan 9, 2024A gorgeous album, ‘Big Sigh’ is a winter treat for the long January nights.
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Jan 9, 2024The result is an excellent follow-up to the breakthrough that was ‘Any Human Friend’. Hackman raises the stakes in her music in a way that feels natural; it is conceptually bigger and more creatively mature, while the songcraft makes this transition feel earned.
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Jan 16, 2024It’s hard not to feel like there could be a little more to Big Sigh, a little more to Hackman. Regardless, there is a lot to be found in this excellent album if you allow it some time, give it some space and, while it may not be as easy as it seems, embrace its familiarity.
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Jan 11, 2024Big Sigh is a knotty, downbeat album that shows the English singer/songwriter stretching herself sonically while still maintaining focus on her pet subjects.
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Jan 16, 2024Big Sigh is at its best when Hackman resists these broad-stroke urges, and carves out more precise imagery—whether with a pen or an ice pick.
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Jan 18, 2024It’s good that she kept picking away at that block of ice, as it resulted in what might be her finest album to date.
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Jan 11, 2024While there is no shortage these days of songwriters railing against soured relationships, Hackman has finally made it out of her twenties with all her good intentions and bad decisions leaving marks on her heart. She's ready to turn those pages and tell her grown-up tales.
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Jan 11, 2024While the lyrics offer a precious few glimmers of defiance, Hackman’s production choices, featuring mostly instruments played by the musician herself, have the verve to suggest not only an artistic resurgence, but a personal one.
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Jan 9, 2024Big Sigh's strength is in not holding back from confronting darker feelings, and revelling in the raw honesty of experiencing them.
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