Harriette Pilbeam, or Hatchie, is a Brisbane based dream pop artist. Her wafting, emotional songs sound like a cross between Carly Rae Jepsen and Cocteau Twins. Her song “Stay With Me” guides the listener to a post breakup state they may not want to revisit: confusion. She conjures a longing to be back where “the wind feels warm.”  Hatchie’s lyrics flip-flop between being content that things are broken off, missing an ex and hating an ex. Backing all of the mixed messages are buzzy synths and laser gun percussion. 

She starts by singing “It’s all better now, it’s all better on my own.” She is content that things between her and her ex have ended. But in the chorus she sings “Stay with me. Why don’t you stay with me, ‘cause I’m not done… you’re still the one.” Clearly, it is not “all better now.” In the bridge she interrogates her feelings: “If I met you in a different moment, if I met you would I be this broken? If I met you would it all still fall apart?” She is wondering if the love was doomed from the start, if things could have been better.

Clocking in at 4 minutes and 56 seconds, there’s plenty of time for all of your forlorn thoughts to creep out of the back of your brain while you dance the sadness away to this upbeat, technicolor ballad that describes a specific kind of post-love pain.