Nat Hathaway releases his sophomore album ‘Catrina, Go’
Throughout Nat Hathaway’s newest album Catrina, Go, themes of nostalgia and regret are explored, matching the album’s sound which is rooted in decades long past. Tracks such as Falling Out, I Hide Instead, and Say You Do capture this feeling well; looking back on a past relationship and wishing that things had panned out differently.
Hathaway’s intention with the album was to make something that sounds like it’s just surfaced from your parents’ old dusty record collection, but can also stand on its own in a modern listening environment.
It borrows from the sonic palette of the 70’s with heavy use of the grand piano, ARP Solina string synthesiser and Hammond C3 organ, yet features a lot more low end than a 70’s record and has modern digital sounds sprinkled throughout, courtesy of the Roland XV5080 synth module. The track Patly’s Yacht is a great example of this blend between past and present sounds.
Catrina, Go weaves through soft ballads, driving pop grooves and sophisticated, syncopated arrangements while maintaining total instrumental cohesion.
To achieve this, Hathaway employed the help of several accomplished session musicians. Tom Broome (Dave Dobbyn, Tami Neilson, Home Brew) played drums on tracks 1-4, 6 and 10. Joe Kaptein (Six60, Princess Chelsea) performed grand piano on tracks 4, 6, 7 and 10 as well as organ on tracks 8 and 10. Ben Frater (Summer Thieves) also played drums on tracks 7-9.
“I approached this record with the goal of making it sound as authentic as possible, drawing from the records I love from the 70’s. All of the rhythm tracks were recorded live, with no samples, capturing that sense of human performance and imperfections that makes those records feel so alive.” – Nat Hathaway
The album follows the release of three singles that offered an introduction to Hathaway’s evolving sound throughout 2026. Only Sophie and Vacation showcase Nat’s ability to create punchy, polished arrangements reminiscent of late-70’s pop, whereas Say You Do highlights a more tender side of Hathaway’s songwriting, with a haunting Brian Wilson-esque melody and more stripped back, spacious arrangement.
Vacation amassed more than 16,000 YouTube streams, reaching audiences beyond New Zealand with airplay in France and Uruguay, alongside domestic radio support. The track also caught the attention of Gaspard Augé, one half of the French electronic duo Justice, who shared one of Nat’s performance reels to his Instagram Story.
Photo Credit: Crystal Chen
