Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt

Released: 25/10/24

Cerulean Blue vinyl limited to 700 units! On her second full-length record as Waxahatchee, former P.S. Eliot singer Katie Crutchfield's compelling hyper-personal poetry is continuously crushing. Cerulean Salt follows American Weekend -- a collection of minimal acoustic-guitar pop written and recorded in a week at her family's Birmingham home.

On this new record, Crutchfield's songs continue to be marked by her sharp, hooky songwriting; her striking voice and lyrics that simultaneously seem hyper-personal yet relentlessly relatable, teetering between endearingly nostalgic and depressingly dark. But whereas before the thematic focus of her songcraft was on break ups and passive-aggressive crushing, this record reflects on her family and Alabama upbringing.

Whereas American Weekend was mostly just Crutchfield and her guitar, Cerulean Salt is occasionally amped up, with a full band and higher-fi production. At times, Cerulean Salt creeps closer to the sound of PS Eliot: moody, 90s-inspired rock backed by Keith Spencer and Swearin' guitarist Kyle Gilbride on drums and bass. The full band means fleshed-out fuzzy lead guitars on Coast to Coast, its poppy hook almost masking its dark lyrics. Big distorted guitars and deep steady drums mark songs like Misery over Dispute and Waiting. There's plenty of American Weekends introspection and minimalism to be found, though. Blue Pt. II is stripped down, Crutchfield and her sister Alison singing in harmony with deadpan vox.

She's still an open booking, musing on self-doubt versus self-reliance, transience versus permanence. Peace and Quiet ebbs and flows from moody, minimal verses to a sing-song chorus. Swan Dive tackles nostalgia, transience, indifference, regret ” over the a minimal strum of an electric-guitar, the picking at a chirpy riff and the double-time tapping of a muted drum. The album closes with a haunting acoustic-guitar reflection on You're Damaged, possibly the best Waxahatchee song to date.