Hanna Hush
YEARS JUNGLE
Finnish singer Hanna Hush manages to chalk up a rare achievement on her first album as she combines a blend of styles that have plenty for the rockin’ crowd while also offering prime entertainment for a more mainstream audience. Since last year, Hanna has been testing the water with a trio of tracks on online platforms but finally Years offers some physical product at last and presents a dozen new compositions.
Things get off to a rip-roaring start with the full-on rockabilly of Hold On Me which features some particularly memorable twanging from guitarist Henri Jokinen and this bold foot-stomping continues across the album on tracks like FYI, Redemption and Hunters.
There is a wide range of flavours within the album and while a song like the catchy Hitchhike has real pop appeal, it’s still happy to rub shoulders with the solid country & western-themed Three Steps To Heaven (no, not the Eddie Cochran song) and the Twin Peaksinfluenced Healing.
Just when you think you may have some idea of where things are going, Find Me Again changes everything as it veers into dark Americana territory with guest vocalist Thomas Pareigis from Swedish rockabilly band Fatboy adding a particularly haunting edge to this modern classic.
By the time you arrive at the banjo-led title track finale, your emotions should be fully wrung-out, but this record deserves repeated plays to really uncover the rich textures that it contains.
You may have to realign your expectations of what you believe a female solo singer with links to the rockabilly genre ‘should’ deliver, but it will undoubtedly be worth the extra effort.
As a debut, this is certainly an assured offering and it gives the impression that Hanna has fine-tuned this collection for a while, refusing to release it until it has reached something close to perfection. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess but it is undeniably worth investigating and definitely contains that little bit of magic sparkle that elevates it into the realms of a truly memorable release.
++++