HANNAH LUCIA has one of those lovely rags to riches stories that makes you want to go out and make one for yourself, and her new release ‘Don’t Hold Out’ feels like that bit in the book where things are starting to turn up trumps for the heroine. It reads a little like this...
Chapter One: Young girl from grungey inner city London moves across the pond to the bright lights of the Big Apple, waits on tables at an iconic jazz bar whilst harbouring her love for the music.
Chapter Two: Girl gets a break singing at said iconic jazz bar, meets influential music producer who offers to help out on her tracks.
Chapter Three: Girl leaves the waitressing behind to become the first release on the producer’s new label. Enjoys great reviews for her work, notches up a string of live dates and…
Chapter Four: …she makes her name and fortune?
We’ll have to wait and see if Chapter Four works out, but for now things are certainly moving in the right direction for Hannah Lucia. Sounding a little like Jessie Ware, a little like Lapsley, and a little like IYES, she’s taking the UK sub-genre of ‘whispery female electronica’ to a more robust level thanks to the backing of her US producer Ben Bronfman, who’s worked with M.I.A and Yeezus.
Layered R’n’B vocals come in and out of focus on the heady, sparkly chorus, whilst a strong piano holds things together in the verses, fully flushed with synths and aspirational lyrics promising ‘anything you want in the world’.
It’s still early days for Lucia and notably there’s only two tracks on her Soundcloud – but they do always say that it’s about quality not quantity.
‘Don’t Hold Out’ will be released on November 6 via Bronfman’s Wave Theory label.
Words by Katie Rowley
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