CD REVIEW: MADYSIN HATTER – Lose Your Mind

Shane | 25 February 2016 | Reply

CD REVIEW: MADYSIN HATTER – Lose Your Mind
Independent
8 January, 2016
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9/10

We’re almost drowning in music that sounds like passion and individuality were the last things on their checklist, so it is a breath of fresh air to hear something as unique as MADYSIN HATTER’s first full-length original album.

Madysin (“Mad as a…” geddit?) is Larissa Burgoyne, a striking young lady hailing from New Jersey. A talented songwriter, she also possesses a unique voice and a whole lotta sass, and this album shows that creativity and inspiration is far more important to her than tailoring her talent into any pigeon hole for the sake of radio acceptance.

Opener It’s All Good is an all-out late-‘80s hair metal party anthem; Black Velvet Snakebite possesses a slinky, mesmerising radio rock groove; Rocky Road and Lose My Mind are slow burning ballads of completely different hues, but which are both full of restrained, smouldering power.

There’s the excellent pop rock of Pretty Little Fool, which is flecked with new wave shadows and an excellent showcase for her impressive vocal range; the bass-heavy bar-room boogie of Jukebox Jive; the classic Stevie Nicks vibe of Gypsy Rock; and another slow burner to finish, the beautiful The Last Time.

Producer Brad Allen Williams does a great job of pulling all the different threads together gently to make a cohesive sounding album that harkens back to the ‘70s, when a band could show their different shades on one record rather than being forced to conform to one sound.

By all reports Madysin Hatter cut it live as well, with glowing reviews from her support slots for the likes of Buckcherry, Tom Keifer, Great White, Faster Pussycat and Uli Jon Roth under her belt. Here’s hoping she can get this extremely deserving album distributed on a wider scale and set about making the follow-up sooner rather than later.