Hannah Peel - The Broken Wave
I first came across Hannah Peel from her Reboxed EP, on which she covered '80s pop hits accompanied only by her modified music box contraption into which she feeds self made paper rolls for each track, sometimes looping them round (if you get the chance to see her live, it's definitely worth it for this). That EP showed off a neat trick and a fine voice but was inherently limited. The Broken Wave shows off both a wider range and a songwriting talent.
A long way from "Blue Monday" and "Tainted Love", there is a very strong folk influence to an album. It's heavy on stripped back piano and acoustic guitar. It also includes a cover of "Cailin Deas Cruite Na Mbo" with its references to pretty maids extended into her own songs, as well as a version of "The Parting Glass" as a final ending (the not otherwise similar Ed Sheeran later did the same on his album!). The influence is also clear in the playful mix of old and new of "Don't Kiss the Broken One", a dissection of negative relationship dynamics tempers its hopelessness through a mixture of plucked and fiddling strings and the lightest electronic burbling, and uses antiquated language interspersed with references to handbags and (metaphorical) drugs.
Indeed, one of the keys to her new songs is how ageless they sound in their simplicity and universality. Their emotions are laid out with a calm ease and sparingly highlighted in the spacious arrangements - the gorgeous comforting warmth of the brass for the chorus of "You Call This Your Home", "Solitude" going from piano into Nitin Sawhney's incredible swelling strings as it reaches its emotional climax, the music box closing "Unwound" in onomatopoeic fashion as its peaceful contentment gradually falters. It's a beautiful sounding album and one which is really easy to fall in love with.
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