Hataałii
Waiting For a Sign
Dangerbird Records
Lazy from the heat, perhaps, is Waiting for a Sign, rife with fear and self-loathing, drifting in and out of lonely desert haunts, not anywhere near Las Vegas but rather, in Arizona. That’s where the slightly bemused 21-year-old Navajo songwriter Hataałii hails from, twirling laidback indie-rock lassos and painting psychedelic sunsets, all while grappling with his own failings and an America that’s lost its way and doesn’t trust anything or anybody — least of all, “Alex Jones.”
The expansive lead track off Hataałii’s latest LP, his second for Dangerbird Records, coming on the heels of 2023’s Singing into Darkness, mulls over Jones’ lunatic fringe appeal, as plaintive guitars twinkle and exhale sighs of resignation, a slow, strolling melody escaping into cool twilight. Unhurried, with a voice that soars high one minute and dives deep the next, Hataałii effortlessly threads his way through southwestern sketches of dreamy disillusionment and cultural awakenings. If Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile had their own tree fort, they’d surely invite him in to casually jam away the afternoon and talk in clever riddles. The three would get along swimmingly.
Diverging genres coalesce in Hataałii’s sumptuous, free-flowing artistry, as a streaming “Something’s in the Air” surfs dark waves of post-punk and the folky filigree of a lightly strummed and plucked “Ballad of Athabaskan Theory” whispers intimately, before crooning into wide skies of blue velvet lushness like Chris Isaak. Ambling country desolation sweeps across “In My Lawn,” while the downy reverb luxury of “Burn” summons the ghost of Nick Drake to a beautiful, arid wasteland, gorgeously contrasting with the neon-lit pop euphoria of “Go Ahead and Try.”
There’s a wet glint in “Brown Fool Eyes,” as Hataałii addresses his own faults, hanging side by side with The Replacements’ “Swingin’ Party” in ghostly reverie and wounded meditation. It’s a lovely constitutional, with the ever-charming Hataałii pulling flowering bouquets of six-string magic out of a hat to lure an audience. They’d give him a standing ovation.
