"Kiss Me" by Hannah Woof

As I so like reporting on highly original artists whose work continues to surprise me, it's ironic when my own writing becomes repetitive but in my defence that's partly to the fact that I see patterns in the creativity of my subjects & it would be dishonest not to comment on them.

With Hannah Woof, whose latest "Kiss Me" is out on May 13^th, I keep coming back to how her quality control is set to maximum by releasing only when composition & production are perfected and how the impact on me (and everyone else) is amplified by both having to wait & by the sense of surprise when announcements spring out of the blue.

And yes, I'll be alluding to her wit because It is a truth universally acknowledged that this is the core of her songwriting DNA.

If one day she starts dropping mundane, regular singles with more platitudes than acuities then I'll write different reviews. But that's not going to happen is it?

I might suggest that given the customary intensity of Hannah's writing & delivery, a period to process any of her songs is probably desirable and her general preference for letting tracks out one by one (the ‘Sleepless Nights' (2017) and ‘Heartbreak Hotel' (2023) EPs are her only instances to date of multi-song collections) is probably wise as well as effective. These songs are always strong & heady.

That's because Hannah only writes from the sincerest of places: if she's not felt it, you're not going to hear a song about it. This stretches from the agonies of insomnia through the joys of reconnection with a friend to a number of songs regarding people whose behaviour has pissed her off. This one is called "Kiss Me" so the source of the passion involved isn't concealed.

I only tell you of music in which I detect some truth. Ultimately that means the artist has generously let you into some private place: their thoughts, their beliefs, their experiences. However Hannah admits you to some interior spaces few others do: it's often unsettling and potentially embarrassing sometimes to be privy to what she has been up to do & even more so, her deepest thoughts on the matter. These however make for emotionally powerful songs & I don't think unsettling the listener is necessarily anything bad. We should all be shaken out of complacency at some stage.

As far as I am aware, Hannah's family are highly supportive & proud of her but I do wonder at private conversations there may have been over the years at the candour of some revelations?

With "Kiss Me", Hannah places you in the position in the corner of her bedroom: quite a privilege I'm sure but who likes to be seen as a voyeur? I do hope she gets the satisfaction she deserves from challenging you so much.

If you delve into her catalogue online, the Tipper Gore mob have labelled various tracks as being "explicit", by which I think they mean "includes rude words" but really her entire body of work is emotionally explicit. She is nothing if not frank.

For my final round of "I've already said this in past articles but here we go again", I would like to return to how tasteful Hannah & her trusted team ("Kiss Me" was again produced & mixed by Jordan Round and mastered by Riley Knapp) make sure it's her voice & her words which are foregrounded. They are adept at classy arrangements but not only are these elements the ones to feature most prominently, but when you experience Hannah playing her songs live, you're probably going to see her with only her acoustic guitar (it's been a while since I've seen her even switching to solo piano). Therefore putting an orchestra on the release isn't going to reflect the live experience.  It's about the song & only the song. Just as a good photo or painting looks a bit better with an appropriate frame round it, we're talking a subsidiary feature & so with "Kiss Me": a cracking song set in a neat musical frame.