The writer Grafton Tanner argues that as the culture industry voraciously strip-mines ideas from the past, musicians respond by creating even weirder versions of earlier styles. Artists wildly mix genres and musical eras, expressing the social dislocation of living in a society where the line between the real and the online seems to grow hazier by the day. But this post-genre approach can also result in beautiful and uplifting work. Frank Ocean’s Blonde pushed soul music to new heights of sublime abstraction. The mysterious Jai Paul made instant pop classics that sound like they were sung by ghosts. UK artist Haich is the latest young visionary aiming to transform our idea of what a singer is in 2018.
Haich AKA Harrison Bernard describes himself as a producer and “still transitioning” vocalist. Originally from the UK, he began his artistic career making hip hop and grime, under his previous stage name That Boy Slim. But something was missing in those aggressive sounds – “When I started making that kind of music, it felt like I couldn’t get the sound to feel authentic. It would feel like an underwhelming copy”. But in opening himself up to new influences something clicked “After getting older and widening my taste, it seems obvious now, but I realised we can do whatever we want. The most avant-garde artists are doing whatever they want, no genre or mood attached. They are paving their own sonic lane- I’d rather try and do that”.
Two years of hard work produced his debut EP Unbalanced, which dropped last year. A dreamy genre mix, it sounds like James Blake submerged in a downpour of experimental electronics. This week, Haich is putting out the new song ‘Peak’. As with all his work, it’s inspired by the complexities of everyday human interaction in this wild century. “Unbalanced was pretty much all about growth and becoming an adult. ‘Peak’ is more like a distorted love story. I’m inspired by accidents, mistakes, imperfections. I’m trying to make those so- called negative things shine”.
The completion of the series took a few months, which unintentionally added a layer to the work. Not only did the breaks between shoots result in her film photography improving, but it allowed her to take time to piece together a clear and concise story based on her initial concept. This also led to more experimentation. Looking at the images one can tell the difference in time between the photographs, and yet the series marries together well. This difference in time almost mimics the narrative of the series; that over time these young womxn will slowly free themselves by embracing themselves, therefore creating and projecting a different image to the world.
There are recurring elements that tie the series together, and are used symbolically. The majority of the images are taken in intimate spaces, such as the bedroom. Marcia explained that these are the rooms of the young womxn photographed, tying into her description of herself as an environmental portraitist. “I generally photograph people in their own spaces. Specifically for this series I wanted it to be very intimate, and I wanted people to show me who they were,” Marcia explained. Adding to the feeling of intimacy are this soft, lacey fabrics worn by the models. Marcia’s presence is included directly through the mirrors that some of the models interact with in her images. The series comes full circle in the last set of photographs where a young womxn is photographed in a garden. Being outside is representative of letting go and choosing to reject the box that she is “supposed” to fit into. One of the most important recurring elements is that of flowers. They are symbolic of feminine energy and feminine power.
