Although technically this is Hattie's first official release of 2020, she has been far from slacking and pandemic or not she has been keeping herself busy.
Her weekly Wednesday Busk is something of a highlight in any week and those who share their appreciation by way of a tip have been the recipients of little gems from herself or frequent collaborator Jasmine Scott Neale. As an exercise it has proved a great way of keeping in touch with fans during these troubled times as well as an opportunity to visit rarely played songs and these relaxed busking sessions are a little treat to be savoured.
As mentioned earlier this is Hattie's first new product of 2020, and it is a piece of songwriting in a classic style not looking to chase any particular passing musical fad.
From the opening repeated acoustic guitar line there is something special afoot, Jasmine's exemplary cello playing and some rich perfectly captured percussion all come together to provide a great platform for Hattie to deliver her storytelling, her vocals really bringing the characters to life from the opening line
"It's the same hand - why won't you hold it? you never used to want to let it go"
The protagonists of the song have been together for some time and have had their share of ups and downs from a "bed of roses" to times when they "called it broken" yet always have been able to acknowledge "We make mistakes but we learn". what happens though if the glue previously holding things together has their own moment of doubt?
"When did we decide we had a problem? - Who says that this is something we can't mend?
Have we blown this way out of proportion? Or are you right this time - is this the end?"
With some lovely backing vocals to close out the song it seems to fly by in no time at all and leaves you with no choice but to return to the start and listen again..
Hattie's Live Stream Busks are at 18:00 GMT on a Wednesday and are available on Facebook ( Hattie BriggsMusic) & Instagram