German-Australian indie-pop artist Anika Ostendorf, who records and produces as Hachiku, has announced the 28 February release of her second album The Joys of Being Pure at Heart through Marathon Artists. 

Having opened up her creative process through co-producing and playing on Jen Cloher’s 2023 album I Am The River, The River Is Me, Ostendorf extended a collaborative hand to harpist Mary Lattimore and classical music group The Newmarket Collective, who both feature on the album, alongside band members Jessie Warren, Georgia Smith, and Simon Reynolds. 

Out today, “Tell Your Friends You Love Them” follows the June release of “Time Wasted Worrying” and finds Ostendorf leaning into a new mindset of embracing uncertainty. “I spent a long time feeling constantly split, like my head was forever in two places at once,” she says in a press release. “I was never satisfied but forever anxious. This is me coming to terms with being stuck, embracing the not knowing and getting comfortable with that.”

Watch the video, co-directed by Michael Ridley and Ostendorf, below:

Speaking on the album title, which references NYC indie-pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Ostendorf says:

 “I never quite understood why a pure heart could cause you pain, but I wanted myself to stay that way among the challenges of the world that could leave you jaded, scared and bitter. It’s not about being naïve or shielding oneself from the realities of human existence but there’s something beautiful and joyous in maintaining an openness to the world. If I can be compassionate and gentle with myself, I can show compassion to others. Remain understanding, believe in the best in all, have hope.”

The Joys of Being Pure at Heart tracklist:
1. Don’t Put Your Head Underwater
2. Tell Your Friends You Love Them
3. Keep on Swimming
4. Wild Eyed and Free
5. Do You Like What You See in Me
6. Victims of Our Own Demise
7. Time Wasted Worrying
8. What Rhymes with Serendipity
9. Fun for Everyone
10. Room for Everybody (Never Let Go of the Joy)