King Hannah – I’m Not Sorry, I was Just being Me (2022)

Title: I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me
Artist: King Hannah
Label: City Slang
Release Date: 25. Februar 2022
Genre: Alternativ und Indie
12 Tracks • 45m 46s

Bei Qobuz available in CD Quality
16-Bit / 44.1 kHz – Stereo

On 25.02.2022 the debut album of KING HANNAH titled I’M NOT SORRY, I WAS JUST BEING ME was released on City Slang. Actually, I had said that I didn’t want to write any more reviews or reports in light of the war in Ukraine. Because when people are dying day after day in Ukraine and whole cities are being leveled to the ground, I can’t just keep doing what I’m doing, it just didn’t seem appropriate. But I have to tell you something about King Hannah, I really do.

King Hannah aka Hannah Merrick (vocals and guitar) and Craig Whittle (guitar) are joined by musicians Ted White, Jake Lipiec and Olly Gorman – making a damn fascinating band out of it. In the first moment, in the first minutes of listening you want to shout out loud: „Hey cool, blues rock“ – but you are far from it, this is anything but blues rock, sure Hannah and Craig take a few elements from it, but that’s it.

Many people like to compare King Hannah with the Canadian Cowboy Junkies. The comparison only works for a few Junkies albums, such as the 4 almost experimental albums from 2010 to 2012, also called Nomad Series. And of course with Open from 2002, but otherwise there is too much Americana, Neo-Country and Folk in the Junkies‘ music – and that doesn’t fit King Hannah at all. And if I played The American Analog Set to them, they’d probably give me two thumbs up right away. Do you also like the Walkabouts from Seattle? Settings Woods on Fire, for example?

When you hear their music you immediately think, sure, they’re from the American continent, but again you are wrong, King Hannah are from Liverpool in the UK. Is there actually anything first-class in music that doesn’t come from the island at the moment? And so it becomes a bit clearer what King Hannah are up to. They are also inspired by the long excavation activities in British music history, where they must have come across some rare fragments of Bad Company and Free.

From all this, the two brew a highly digestible delicious tipsy swill. All the aspects already mentioned flow into it, but are once again powerfully decelerated, alienated with finely woven synthie carpets, the distorted, but grandiosely excellent guitar work of the two also gives the whole thing a nice, slightly psychedelic touch. Hannah’s singsong, deep and smoky, is a standout trademark of the band, along with Criag Whittle’s terrifically effective, empathetic guitar work and the slow, incredibly cautious arrangements.
There’s currently no sound better suited to these crappy times. The sound is so soothing to the soul that a tear or two will run down your cheek. But at the same time Hannah and Craig give you so much warmth and comforting coziness that some things are a lot easier to handle.
I’M NOT SORRY, I WAS JUST BEING ME is already one of the musical highlights of 2022 for me.