Review: Airling - Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream

Since first bursting onto the scene at Splendour in the Grass 2014, Airling - the moniker of Brisbane-based singer and songwriter Hannah Shepherd - has treated her audiences to a steady stream of new and diverse music in both original pieces and dozens of features with Japanese Wallpaper, LANKS, Xavier Dunn, and #1 Dads. At long last, we have a full LP from Airling that not only features the same wonderful vocals we’ve previously been exposed to, but excellent production and heartfelt writing that drives home an overwhelmingly impassioned debut.

Standing at just shy of a dozen songs, Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream is a monster offering. Segmented by three small interludes that carry the idea and push the inspiration behind the album’s title - love and lust, death and loss, and how we deal with the events in our lives that bring these things. 

The album opens proper with Airling’s aching words gracefully fluttering amongst an ever-so-slightly off kilter beat. With lyrics speaking of a deep yearning for affection and something more substantive, Airling alternates between an unconditional devotion and self-loathing - speaking true for anyone who has been in similar situations. These themes run deep through the whole album as it shifts from sultry late night ballads to pained, lovesick anthems. 

The solo material shines bright, but the collaborations radiate just as strong. Collaborations with Big Scary’s Tom Iansek, Emma Louise and Fractures all accentuate and allow Airling’s entrancing vocals to remain the star - now elevated by the adjoining harmonies of Iansek and Fractures, and the equally angelic vocals of Louise. 

Airling’s debut is an exercise in wonderful and emotive writing, one in which we can be fully enveloped by Shepherd’s heavenly vocals after getting taste after taste through numerous features and spots. The production remains excellent throughout and highlights the wistful vocals even more, ensuring many more listeners will become lost in Airling’s melancholic anthems across the nation in the coming months.

Written by: James Johnston

Hard to Sleep, Easy to Dream is available today via Pieater.

Grab tickets to Airling's upcoming tour via airling.net