Marika Hackman details fifth album, False Dogs

Produced, arranged and written by Hackman herself, False Dogs follows her 2024 album Big Sigh. The new collection of songs is described as her most assured and emotionally affecting record yet as a more intimate album about the beauty and anxieties of being in your mid-thirties. She plays almost every instrument on the album, including guitars, piano, drums, bass, mandolin and synth.

Alongside the announcement, Hackman shares the opening track "33", a song about the passage of time from being seventeen years old up to now. She worked with a children's choir on the track, portraying a shadow character who tells her to "keep pushing," despite being immobilised by both nostalgia and fear of the future.

"'33' grapples with the dull ache of nostalgia, the apprehension of the future and the celebration of the moments in between — keep pushing, it's worth it," she explains.

False Dogs came together with hours of experimentation at Hackman's East London studio, followed by a ten days at Ramsgate's Big Jelly Studios, with contributions from previous collaborators Charlie Andrew and Polly Mackey (aka Art School Girlfriend), Hackman's wife.

Across the album, she explores the pressure of expectations and milestones that we measure our life against — marriage, children, buying a home — explaining: "I think this truly is the first record that I have fully inhabited my creative skin right up to its edges.”

Hackman has also announced her biggest ever UK and EU tour for 2027, beginning at Royal Festival Hall on 26 February, with further shows in Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, and more.

False Dogs artwork

False Dogs tracklist

"33"
"Close To Me"
"I'm Good"
"Handsome"
"The Blows"
"Be Surprised"
"Everything You Wanted"
"Ha_Happy"
"Half Painted Dog"
"Hello Sunshine"
"Lying Down"
"Crimson"