Album Review

Erik Hassle – Hurtful

• 6th Nov 2009

The first UK single from this Swedish singer/songwriter begins with a punchy declaration which boldly grabs your attention, announcing “I used to laugh it off, I used to look the other way”. Well, there will be no laughing off of Hassle after this single which establishes him as a certified mainstream musician; the first verse seems to be almost a summary of ‘the striving musician’ to date, both lyrically and with its melody, which has a distinct sense of being very understated and controlled, eventually emerging with a triumphant chorus which you cannot help but pay attention to as a result of its hugely strong, confident vocals emphasized all the more by the minimalist but nonetheless highly supportive electronic backing.

As the chorus slopes back into the second verse we are left briefly hanging on its closing statement (“what I’m going through is hurtful”), the grounded drumbeat bridging the gap for just long enough for the chorus to fully sink in before we embark on the second verse, equally full of slightly bitter hindsight as the first, kicks into motion. For the most part it’s pretty similar both in tone and melody to the first, except for the small addition of what sounds like an electronic trumpet/guitar thing providing a technically simple but nonetheless significant harmony. It’s not much, but it gives the verse that little bit more gravitas.

The second rendition of the chorus goes by much like the first and leads into the bridge and the final extended chorus, which frustratingly isn’t nearly as creative as it could be. The accompaniment loops around purposelessly whilst Hassle skilfully but (one gets the impression) soullessly throws out some high pitched “what I did to you”s which, oddly enough, detract from the song’s sincerity and leave it feeling a bit deflated. When the song suddenly ends you’re not left with much, but I wouldn’t be surprised to catch myself humming the chorus whilst doing the washing up this evening. It’s by no means a bad introduction to the UK music scene but I get the impression that Hassle has it in him to be a bit more imaginative than this commercially sound but musically a bit flat single shows him as. Not as “hurtful” an experience as he’d have us believe, but ultimately nothing that we haven’t heard before.