I first came across by chance a few years ago. I witness one of her DJ sets and was immediately a fan. While the music wasn’t what I usually listen to it was expertly stitched together over a few hours to create the ideal soundtrack for the venue. The next day I started checking out HAAi’s music. Luckily, second album ‘HUMANiSE’ was released not long after and that was my soundtrack for a while. Now HAAi has returned with new album ‘DIGITiSE’ and, like their DJ set, it does not disappoint. 

‘Printerlude’ is probably the most fun track on the album. Using field recordings/samples has become a staple in electronic music in recent years. Usually, it’s the sounds of nature or the city. Here HAAi uses the sounds or technology: people typing, the sound of an office… is that an old school internet dial-up tone in there? Then there is the sound of something being printed. These samples are then skewed, and chopped, to create fun interesting rhythms and tones. This really works with the ideas of technology that HAAi is playing with. This leads into ‘Ignition’. This is the first proper on the album. The beats are solid. The basslines are pulsing. Nice synths/drones. The final third features singing variations of “All around, there’s still no reason. Money in my pocket, but I still can’t get this feeling. No sleep, we’re Tokyo drifting.  We got out in the nick of time”. The final minute is class. Everything comes together and just merges to create something that not only elevates to song but takes you out of your life and to somewhere else. This WILL go off when played live! ‘Death Perception’ is a lovely slab of post-dubstep. Glorious bass wobbles. Cut up beats. And some vocal samples that evoke . It might by my favourite song on the album. 

The sequencing of the album is something that is sometimes overlooked on dance albums. Usually, the big guns are shoved up front and after the halfway mark it all peters out. Here, the album starts with the more wonky, gawky, interesting songs and the second half is just hard banger, banger, banger, banger. HAAi’s other job is a DJ. Having the innate ability to read a room, and read what should go next, means that after ‘Technology’ and ‘HUMANiSE Radio’ we fancy something with a massive 4/4 beat, minimal elements and ‘THANK U’ fits in perfectly. 

On ‘DIGITiSE’ HAAi really elevates the sound on their previous albums ‘Baby, We’re Ascending’ and 2025’s ‘HUMANiSE’. The palate is broader. The sounds hit harder and there is a playfulness to the music. It feels like one foot is one the dancefloor and the other for home listening. The songs are more complex, but not incomprehensible. This is the difficult third album, but unlike a lot of difficult third albums, there is nothing difficult to the listening experience. The songs flow from the speakers and sound immense. ‘HUMANiSE RADIO’ is a proper banger. On a different album it would have been up first, but here its sequenced on the second half. It just works perfectly.

‘DIGITiSE’ see HAAi grow as a songwriter. Maybe being in the shoegaze band Dark Bells helps when creating swaths of sound, or it’s a killer ear for melodies. Here she’s confident to go with her gut, while throwing some curve balls, to deliver an album that doesn’t just bang, it does but is super playful and listenable. This is an album you’ll want to say HAAi to.

8/10