
Charlette Hannah: The Path Unclear
By Amanda Mills
Largely self-written and produced, with recording and mastering help from Robbie Duncan, this album is the debut of Wellington multi-instrumentalist Charlette Hannah, released on her own Scorching Records label. Showing influences of various other female singer-songwriters, it unfortunately reveals the limitations of Hannah’s high-pitched, reedy voice and a safe style that, across a full album, is unsatisfying. The music - helped along by Hannah’s core band of bassist Vince Waide (Tommy), and drummer Hans Weston (Sleepy Demons) - is mostly acoustic, delicate and folk-inspired with bodhran, viola and cello utilised. Lyrics display a preoccupation with love and relationships, but her metaphors are awkwardly twee in places. Most tracks are pop flavoured with pleasant melodies, but few stand out, most sounding similar in vocal treatment and melodic structures. Behind The Front Line provides a welcome change of pace, with heavier electric backing, and a rock guitar line, courtesy of Julian Van der Krotg.
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