The special version of the track comes on the 10th anniversary of Hackman’s debut album ‘We Slept At Last’, the record that first introduced the song to the world.
Hackman has produced the new incarnation of the track herself, recording it between The Gatehouse in Abbey Road Studios and her own studio. It came about as part of Abbey Road’s annual collaboration with Pitchfork London.
The spare, spacious recording sees Marling’s vocals add depth and timbre to the song, with minimal instrumentation giving it a hauntingly intimate effect. Watch the visualiser here:
Hackman’s fourth studio album ‘Big Sigh’ was released in January 2024. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “The result is an excellent follow-up to the breakthrough that was ‘Any Human Friend’. Hackman raises the stakes in her music in a way that feels natural; it is conceptually bigger and more creatively mature, while the songcraft makes this transition feel earned. If ‘Any Human Friend’ was the rebound, ‘Big Sigh’ feels like the crash after the feelings you’ve been ignoring catch up to you — and it’s a defining moment for one of the UK’s most intriguing songwriters.”
Writing on X, Hackman has said: “10 years of ‘We Slept At Last’ felt like the perfect time to have a little refresh of one of my all time favourites from that record. Thank you to @lauramarlinghq for lending me her dulcet tones and to Art School Girlfriend for the fabulous mix.”
