Gather round for a feed – Hassall’s new single ‘Dinner Table’ is scrumptious

The Melbourne-based singer also announced her debut LP Means More To You Than It Does To Me.

Dinner Table kicks off Hassall’s 2025 with a flutter of synths, that familiar steady electric guitar she does so well and bright, colourful vocals inviting you to pull up a chair and…keep your mouth shut while you chew.

The theme’s on Dinner Table initially spawn from Hassall’s experience with Misophonia; a neurophysiological disorder that causes people to have an extreme reaction to specific sounds. 

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“Ever since I was a young teenager, I’ve had a pretty severely negative aversion to the sound of people eating.” – Hassall

“I would struggle to stay at the dinner table with my family and hated it when people got too close to me. Any kind of eating or loud breathing or sniffing sounds would result in me yelling or crying or leaving. I always thought this would be something that I got over, but the condition has only thrived over the years.

“This song’s about that, and any other of my traits I naively hoped would ‘just be a phase’. I’m always suspiciously appreciative of anyone who’s still willing to date me or be a close friend once they’ve uncovered this crazy-woman side of me, and the song is about that too.”

5 worst sounding foods (when chewed) according to Hassall:

Oh man this was not fun to reflect on, but here goes…

1. Cereal. It’s gotta take the number one spot – that combo of wet & crunchy at the same time, plus the slurping, and the spoon scraping on the bowl. Actually horrendous. 
2. Wings. Or anything sticky that requires someone to eat it with their hands. The chewing is bad enough but the sound of someone sucking their fingers is my personal hell. 
3. Chips from the bag. I’m surprisingly okay with crunching sounds given the volume, however there’s a lot of open-mouth action when it comes to chips which is feral, and the crinkling of the bag infuriates me to no end. 
4. Bananas. No hate on bananas but yuck. The way it sloshes around the mouth. And if someone talks while eating it, I’m actually out of the room. 
5. Popcorn. And his best friend, the choc top. There is nothing worse than sitting through a quiet scene in a film at the movies, and having surround sound of other viewers smacking down popcorn, slurping up soft drinks or mungin’ on choc tops. Granted, I always forget to bring my ear plugs. 

Dinner Table is out now, with Means More To You Than It Does To Me scheduled for release on 3 July.

Dinner Table launch party will be held on Saturday 22 February, Persa Bar Fitzroy, Fitzroy

words by staff writer