Ha Vay, an indie pop singer songwriter, recently released her debut album ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’ on June 21st just in time for the strawberry moon to dance across the night sky, a symbol of spiritual growth perfect for the love spell Ha Vay is about to cast over her listeners through her rich poetic lyricism. ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’ is a concept album laced with fairytales and magic to romanticise Ha Vay’s own experiences and create an empowering story that will live in the hearts of listeners forever. Ha Vay, the new poetess of girlhood, invites listeners to be great poets too so that they can look back on their lives on not be filled with regret but rather be proud of how meaningful their lives were and the strong people they became along the way.
Ha Vay opens the album with her single ‘Ophelia’, a song which tells the story of an ethereal woman still enchanted by the whimsy of girlhood. Ha Vay gathers listeners right from the first note of the album to join her pursuit for the reclamation of the voice of woman. The single is backed by the staccato notes of the piano and a playful strum of the guitar immediately instilling a sense of euphoria within the listener. Sonically ‘Ophelia’ is reminiscent of the childhood days of nursery rhymes and wonder whilst the song builds into a cacophony of strings and Ha Vay’s beautifully controlled vocals. Standout lyrics, ‘she’s twirling like a ballerina never caring how you see her’ convey how ‘Ophelia’ embraces both her womanly femininity and the stardust of early girlhood. Our protagonist refuses to let you ignore half of her so that you can feel whole, this excites the listener as it is something women are trained not to do. Women are taught to be demure and respectful, not to be enchanted by stories of yellow brick roads and rabbits who can talk.
Soon we transition into ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’, the title track which explores the theme of being on the precipice of womanhood through the haunting metaphor of lycanthropy. Sonically the song builds and builds to mirror the passing of the baton from girlhood to womanhood. With pounding drums and all-consuming vocal harmonies, Ha Vay breaks free allowing listeners to embrace their true, feminine form also. The standout lyrics, ‘you think you’ve caught a lamb, but baby I’m the wolf’ convey how from a very young age girls are engraved with folklore that depicts womanhood as something negative. That maturing is an ugly thing where they will become unlovable in the male gaze. These dark fairytales which helped to inspire the title track are all just a man’s perception of female growth as a means of control. They force women to be the submissive lamb in fear that they will break free howling into the cosmos as the powerful wolf. ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’ perfectly portrays to the listener how womanhood isn’t a bad thing, it is power.
Next, we move into ‘Angel! Wild! Superstar!’ A single which depicts a runaway love story and immerses the listener into the revelry with a folky guitar and a steady beat. Sonically this single sounds like dancing under a midsummer moon, finally free and living a life that the greats would write poetry about. The standout lyrics, ‘I know I’ll be deathless in your mind and your art’ convey the tale of a woman who is the catalyst for a life worth living, she is a petal caught in the wind forever fleeting only leaving her sweet perfume behind to enchant your memories. This enchantress has become the addiction of a man, dancing into his life like the most beautiful of natural disasters and catching him in her all-consuming wind. He is drawn to her wild and has tasted her wonder so vows to follow her no matter how unattainable she may be.
Part two of the ‘Angel! Wild! Superstar!’ story is the next single ‘Pretty Baby’ which bares listeners witness to the birth of a siren, rising from the ashes of her union of horror. The standout lyrics, ‘we’re a cataclysmic crash violent in nature, we can’t last’ present how our femme fatale is done romanticising his mad. He has become nothing but a bad omen, haunting her life in a gothic twist of events. The single is laced with siren-like whistles and chilling flat notes as the song builds into the bridge, a cinematic climax of the moment of realisation backed with Ha Vay’s beautifully breathy vocals, addictive harmonies and luscious strings.
With Ha Vay’s seductive vocals serenading the listener, we are greeted with ‘Fragile’, a song which depicts how women aren’t fragile just because they recognise their own emotions and can be sensitive to others. This just means they’re human something men often like to hide. The lyrics, ‘a girl is a gun! A woman is the sun and the air we breathe’ convey how when in youth women may be fuelled by angst and quick to female rage, but in adulthood they are responsible for the world. She is called Mother Nature for a reason. With a catchy guitar riff and spectral backing vocals, this song is sure to be swimming through your mind for days to come.
Next, we move into ‘Vampires’ with it’s staccato piano notes which fill the song with a sense of the gothic. The standout lyrics, ‘spill my blood. Turn me cold. Anything so that I won’t grow old’ present how women feel they need to be forever young in order to be forever loved. Beauty standards haunt women everyday and often the only way that they can establish power is through clear skin and sparkling eyes. Through the metaphor of the vampire, Ha Vay explains to the listener how women feel they need to have immortal beauty as the male gaze makes them feel worthless without it.
Soon we move into the punchy bass riff and tranquil guitar of ‘The Huntress’, the sonically perfect song for the soundtrack of a coming-of-age movie. The lyrics, ‘but you can’t see the way I howl for you’ weave an obsession-laced tapestry of infatuation, spinning the tale of a woman who is so wholly in love with someone that it pains her greatly when it is not completely reciprocated. ‘The Huntress’ is for the practical magic type of girls who pick petals off daisies to determine love and manifest that he feels the same way surrounded by crystals and candles in their messy bed chambers.
With a folky guitar and Ha Vay’s howl-like vocals the first single ‘Moon Girl’ feels very ritualistic, like being surrounded by a coven and committing yourselves to the moon. The standout lyrics, ‘don’t mistake me for the wind when she howls’ tell the story of finding your freedom after years of being tamed. Using pastoral imagery to connect womanhood to nature, Ha Vay presents femininity as both a natural and a wild entity.
Next, we move into ‘Nature’s Bride’ which explores the acceptance of mortality as we are all just a small flower in nature’s eternal garden. Our lives are just a short story in the eyes of Mother Nature, insignificant in the passing of time. So, we must surrender our ego and give ourselves forth to nature, in a marriage of mutual trust. The song builds with a symphony of harmonies reminiscent of the healing blossoming of nature.
Ha Vay ends the album on a euphoric crescendo, rich with revelry like a midsummers festival where people are twirling barefoot under the stars like forest fairies with flower crowns coiled in their hair. The standout lyrics, ‘he knows that I’m a storm and he wants the rain’ convey when someone loves you for your wild not despite it.
So go and listen to ‘Baby I’m The Wolf’ and experience the revelry and great poetry for yourselves. Also be sure to check out the accompanying mini movies to fully immerse yourselves into the enchanting lore of Ha Vay.
Photo by Emily Oreste
Bacchanalia Magazine 
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