The West London singer-songwriter Maddy Haenlein, better known under her stage name ‘Gretel’ has finally released her long awaited debut album ‘Squish’. Having released music since the age of 18 it is clear that she has carved out a unique and personal sound that echoes her multitude of inspirations, honing her skills into a flawless 13 track LP detailing the struggles of girlhood through her guitar driven band pop sound. An album recorded across only 5 days, with the help of Black Midi’s Seth Evans as producer and long term collaborators Patch (Bassist) and Theo (drummer). This project is a real testament to excellent songwriting and musicianship.

photo by Karolina Wielocha

words by Rosie Cullen

The album hits it off with the title track ‘Squish’, an at first stripped back song that later erupts into a guitar led, drum heavy track, detailing the pressures of being a woman trying to navigate her way in the world. An amazing song that really sets the tone for the rest of the album.

The personal nature of her songs only continue with ‘Fire blooming trees’, which was the final teaser before the album was released. The song creates a sense of urgency through the bouncy guitar work and breathy questioning vocals, conveying a sense of anger at the outside world, which reflects the tumultuous time of the LA fires that she wrote this in.

The lyrics such as “It’s you who is insecure” and “What do you want?” thematically echo songs further in the album such as ‘Pick your heart up’ and ‘Oh well’. 

Both of these songs, appearing one after the other in the track list displays the message of perhaps feeling discarded at the end of a breakup, but rather than feeling heartbroken and insecure it reads as a message of female empowerment for people to know their worth. This really carries on her overarching theme of girlhood into an evolving story, making these songs feel like a real milestone of achievement in the speaker’s life.

The grungy feel of ‘Oh well’ is well matched with the first single of the album ‘Unbloom’ where you can really feel her 90s Nirvana influence. I feel that this song best expresses the urgency of the entire project having been recorded in only 5 days at RAK studios. The driving bass paired with an almost seductive, raspy vocal really conveys the frenzied nature of the recording.

Furthermore, the third track ‘Maybelline’, a song about being comforted by her grandmother after a break up. The repetition of ‘back and forth’ in the lyrics expertly creates this sense of anxiety, like being stuck in one emotion unable to move on, this heightening of emotions is mirrored in the build up and bending guitar riff towards the end of the song. This very much feels like a nod to PJ Harvey, an artist Gretel listened to a lot during the writing and recording of this LP.

Similarly another song I feel echoes this 90s influence is the track ‘Witch hunt’. Perhaps the most aggressive and upbeat across the album. This song is like an angry feminist anthem with haunting dubs in the background and a reverbed vocal with a punchy bass line. Reminiscent of the gothic fairytales that inspire her so much, this song could definitely be in the soundtrack to a fairytale reimagining. 

Fairytales, novels and family are clearly a place where Gretel finds some of her best ideas from. A song titled after a character from her grandfather’s novel ‘Laurali’ dedicated to her brother after he left home is my personal favourite off of this LP. A haunting shoegaze lullaby with hints of Wolf Alice that really transport you into a sentiment of nostalgia and a wish to protect. A genuinely beautiful song of airy vocals and skilled, stripped back band work.

Both this and ‘Darkness, be my friend’ (the melody of which influenced from The Beatles amazing track ‘A Day In The Life’) feel almost painful, really showing Gretel’s ability to perfect the craft of creating deeply personal songs that feel universal to understand and connect to. 

Contrasting from this the album also has moments of young lust, ‘Drunk on the ballroom floor’ and ‘Nervous driver’ seemingly two very different songs, one giving the sense of wanting perfection and regret within a husky acoustic song, whilst the other is more unapologetic in the speaker’s desires, with the addictive repetition of ‘again’ and frenzied guitar playing . However, what they do share is this sense of compulsion and desire within this theme of lust.

Finally, the album ends with ‘The Perfect Body’. A vulnerable song where Gretel expresses her struggles with eating disorders to her audience. A hopeful song about rejecting society’s expectations of her and discovering a new found resilience after dealing with the struggles of body image.

‘Squish’ is the perfect encapsulation of what it means to be a woman – Gretel does not shy away from any themes in this album and delivers exactly what she needed to, a raw and unapologetic record.