GULLIVERS LOUNGE

When people talk about the songs of Hannah White, they talk about passion, honesty, social conscience and pure musicality. With the release of her groundbreaking new album, that conversation is getting louder and louder.

The London-born singer-songwriter established herself as one of the UK’s freshest talents via such solo albums as Whose Side Are You On? in 2016 and the 2018 follow-up Elephant Eye. The latter’s charming flagship single ‘In It For Love’ won airplay on BBC Radio 2, 6 Music and BBC London as one of six tracks to receive radio attention. A raft of positive reviews picked up on White’s singular melodic and lyrical flair and signposted the incredibly inclusive and stirring live shows that she’s been playing for a decade.
Like so many artists, Hannah was significantly impacted by the pandemic. With the ‘Hannah White and the Nordic Connections’ album due for release as global lockdowns were being announced in 2020, her tours both in the UK and Norway were cancelled. But this huge challenge turned into a triumph.

Review after review heaped praise on the record’s delightful, trademark Anglo-Norwegian Americana style ­– culminating in its nomination as UK Album of the Year at the 2021 UK Americana Awards, in the distinguished company of Laura Marling, Emily Barker and Robert Vincent. Airplay arrived on BBC Radio 2 and many regional BBC stations, as did official Spotify playlisting.

Among the critical acclaim, W21 Music called it “honest and unflinching. An emotional rollercoaster ride that never lets up.” Folk and Tumble called it “a timeless classic,” while for Phoenix Radio in Australia it was “cutting and powerful. A modern day Pete Seeger.” Fatea magazine marvelled at “the restraint, the range, the softness, the clarity, the levels all appropriately placed in delivering this masterpiece,” and Roadtracks in Germany described the set as “a Scandinavian UK-Americana miracle that beguiles the heart and soul. Touching words and excellent voice almost tear your heart apart. Already talking song of the year.”

More recently, Hannah and Keiron Marshall teamed up again, remotely this time, with their Norwegian bandmates, Lars Hammersland (Hammond organ), Ole Ludvig Krüger (drums) and Svein Henning Berstad (vocals), now with the endorsement of two hugely revered Nashville musicians: Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien (fiddle, mandolin, mandola & vocals) and Viktor Krauss, brother of Alison (upright bass), to record the infectiously uplifting single ‘Walk Beside Me’ which was picked up by two more beloved Americana greats, Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale, and showcased on their ‘Buddy & Jim’ show on the SiriusXM Outlaw channel. It won a coveted slot on the US internet station Folk Alley, and was featured on DittyTV and across the BBC network.