Layered, spectral vocals and heavy on the sweet cool, Hazelene’s “Something Positive” is an open and easy tune with the unexpected twists of psych and the comfort of dream pop. “Something Positive” is the second single from Hazelene, following the 2024 psych pop gem “Every Loss”.
Hazelene is the solo project of California-born, Leeds-based Andrea Parra. Noting influences like Swervedriver, Tess Parks, Midding and Alan Sparhawk, as well as spare chord compositions from bands like Spacemen 3 and Black Thumb, Andrea knows what she admires in music while pursuing her own original sound. Intensely aware of her own and others’ craft, an admirable DIY spirit underlines Hazelene; vocals, drums, bass and guitar on “Something Positive” are all performed by Andrea.
In this blank mood Q+A you’ll learn about some of the elements of “Something Positive”, how Andrea approaches songwriting for Hazelene and what it was like to work with Ian Flynn on recording the track. I also ask about the power in being an outsider as far as songwriting… and yes, I had to ask about that excellent Dick Dale-sounding micro freak-out towards the end of the song!
//wendy
Can you tell us if there is a story behind the lyrics of “Something Positive”?
All the lyrics start from some kind of emotional jolt. I write down loads of words before I settle on lyrics for a track. I think about lyrics quite intensely! They start out as these wordy dialogues to myself, out of events that have happened to me. But I never finish lyrics until the song is completely done, and then I have sessions where I’m wrestling words into the song pattern. Particular words can sound like a horrible mishmash when you sing them, so I’m selecting words for rhythm as much as sense. I always hold onto this idea that the final lyrics should give the song a universal meaning, although there is a personal meaning there for me which is buried. I know the repeat of “the wrong/the right” in “Something Positive” was an early idea, a mood of light and shade, the contrast, in a loop.
I love the vocals on this song - they are layered with a lovely spectral effect. As Mark Gardener has said, they remind of Lush. How did you approach this aspect of the song? Did you have something specific in mind or did you develop it in the studio with Ian Flynn?
Thank you very much, there are some big compliments here! I love recording with Ian, because I’m a shy singer, and so the atmosphere he provides is very welcoming. He has these tremendous microphones that make everything sound like galaxies of frequencies, I still get tingles thinking about this! For this track I had a definite idea that the vocal would be a call and response, something spectral, haunted, so I’m really pleased you have noticed this. When it came time to do the vocal on my home demos, I couldn’t make the idea work in my home recording, but I couldn’t let it go either. One night I thought “what if I record my vocal a second time, but an octave down?” This instantly made those backing vocals pop out. Someone with more skills than I would probably have figured this out quicker! When I went into the studio with Ian we recorded the vocals in exactly the same way.
I also love the Dick Dale-esque micro guitar freak-out towards the end. The song has many details and some unexpected twists while feeling open and easy. Can you imagine playing this with a full band?
The Dick Dale freak out might have been inspired by too much surfing ha. The Telecaster I have lends itself to twang. The guitar solo started as just a fun Friday night mess about but I realised it loaned this track its thread. It’s provided not only the solo, but also a repeated line at the end, and an echo/repeat within the solo. Yes there are a few strange structures to this track, I left them in as they create interesting transitions. Ian suggested some improvements, there were a few things we did differently in the studio because the tonal qualities were shaky on the demos, and I’m pleased with the final result. This song has billions of parts which Ian was amazing about muddling through and making sense of them, so I’m also pleased the end result is free and unencumbered, that’s what I wanted. Oh my goodness I’ve love to play a full set of these tracks with a full band! There is the work of putting that together but I hope this is possible in the future.
What would you say is an outsider’s superpower when it comes to songwriting?
An outsider’s superpower is, for me, feeling untouched by others’ judgement. It’s feeling emboldened to make mistakes without having to care about judgement, and I think you need mistakes to do interesting things. Technically I’m not a great musician at all, so I compose by shifting around mistakes until they sound good. I think most musicians admit this, that the mistakes sound amazing sometimes and are the hardest thing to create again in the studio. Also, I have really broad tastes and I’m a big fan of soul and funk which isn’t usually a natural partner with psych and shoegaze, so an outsider superpower is to not be embarrassed to mix up genres! I have genuinely listened to Frank Ocean right next to Windy & Carl and tried to mash it together...
What does the rest of this year look like for you musically? Does Hazelene have anything planned for 2026?
I am visualising a lot of indoor time for 2026 so I can finish an album! I am a slow songwriter, but also I have a complicated life of entirely normal administrative things but just way too many of them, and unfortunately music gets pushed a lot to the periphery as I put out one fire or another. 2026 is the year of saying no, ha. I perform in another project called Lines Of Silence, which has been super for me, performing live again and getting used to singing and playing guitar, which I’ve never done in a band (I’ve always been the drummer). Maybe by the end of 2026 I might perform as Hazelene? Light a candle for me...
“Something Positive” credits:
Guitar, bass, drums and vocals by Hazelene.
Recorded and mixed by Ian Flynn/Werkhouse Productions.
Mastered by Mark Gardener/OX4 Sound.
Photographs by Lilly Creightmore.
Single artwork by Hazelene.
Video produced and edited by Hazelene.