Hachiku release sublime second album ‘The Joys of Being Pure At Heart’

Many artists like to kick off their albums with a bang, but Hachiku opens theirs with a gradual build of a song that feels like a new beginning. At the end of a cold February, The Joys of Being Pure at Heart brings the hazy soft warmth of early June.

Hachiku is the brainchild of Australian-German Anika Ostendorf who previously released music via the Courtney Barnett founded label Milk! Records. The band includes Jessie Warren, Georgia Smith and Simon Reynolds with album contributions from The Newmarket Collective and harpist Mary Lattimore (Kurt Vile, Thurston Moore).

You’d be right to draw comparisons with Courtney Barnett, Jen Cloher, The Breeders and Snail Mail – Hachiku has played with all of them. The alternative indie pop is also reminiscent of the now disbanded Chai, early Soko and Vampire Weekend’s first two albums.

The Joys of Being Pure At Heart is playful and upbeat and Hachiku seems to have lost all of the cynicism of their 2020 debut LP, I’ll Probably Be Asleep. Indeed, throughout The Joys of Being Pure Heart Hachiku’s lyrics have an irresistible warmth and sensitivity. Osterdorf writes of the album,

“It’s not about being naive or shielding oneself from the realities of human existence but there’s something beautiful and joyous in maintaining an openness to the world.”

The Joys of Being Pure at Heart is out on 28 February 2025 via Marathon Artists so you just about have time to memorise every lyric before their extensive world tour reaches the UK.