By DJ Monk
The title of this EP could be seen as quite appropriate for the format, as most EPS are released by artists “in between” their “main” album releases, often to sate the appetite of their fans for new material, or to preview a shift in direction, or even just as a fulfilment of contractual obligations. However, this is a totally different proposition from any of those said scenarios, as it represents an artist returning to her roots and presenting a somewhat different perspective on their craft.
Best known for ripping up a fretboard as one of the hottest young female blues-rock guitarists to have emerged in recent years, not many fans may realize that Hannah Wicklund’s original musical mien was classical piano, before she switched both instruments and codes. However, during a visit to her parents’ home in South Carolina last year, she started tinkling the ivories again – something which ultimately led to this reworking of four songs from her last, self-titled album. And the result is as surprising as it is revelatory.
Like that aforesaid album, this shorter collection kicks off with ‘Bomb Through The Breeze’: but, gone is the fiery guitar riff which lies at the heart of the original song, and in instead comes a solitary keyboard and a much softer touch. It’s a treatment which not only strips the song down to its bare essence but also displays a fragility, especially in Wicklund’s vocals, which does not come across in the original, more familiar, rendition; the result is beautiful.
Wicklund returns to guitar for the other three songs contained here – ‘Meet You Again’, ‘Shadowboxes And Porcelain Faces’ (the lyrics of which give this EP its title) and ‘Ghost’. The middle of these tunes will be the most familiar to those who have seen Wicklund live, as she performs it in the form in which it is presented here, although this version is even more stripped back to its bare bones and again displays a genuine fragility. By the same token, closer ‘Ghost’ takes on an appropriateness its writer could not have foreseen when she first penned it, as it is about isolation and loneliness, two feelings which come across with poignancy and honesty from a young artist who is still maturing but also demonstrates an incredible maturity and clarity of thought.
‘The Inbetween’ is a portrait of an artist laid bare, at her most honest, and most vulnerable. And that is what makes this a powerful and emotional listen.
‘The Inbetween’ is out now. You can get your copy, and loads of other Hannah Wicklund goodies, HERE.
www.facebook.com/hannahwicklundss
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.