Description
Speed of Light is the fifth full-length album by the British singer and songwriter Philippa Hanna, independently released on Resound Media in November 2017.
Written for the most part in Nashville, it’s somewhat fitting that Sheffield-based singer/songwriter Philippa Hanna has gone for a country approach on her latest release. It’s a brave move given the success of the dance-tinged potential chart material found on her excellent previous album ‘Speed Of Light’ but Hanna, being the consummate artist she is, pulls off this metamorphosis with style and skill. Proceedings get off to a punchy start with the stomping title track – a declaration of survival, defiance and resilience – setting the scene for an album containing songs that deal with everyday issues which, thanks to Hanna’s innate songwriting ability, seem to get alongside the listener and help him or her see the wood for the trees. Themes such as being tolerant to others and handing your dreams and ambitions over to God are handled with care in «Getting On With Life» and «Let ‘Em Fly» respectively whilst the bluegrass-tinged single «Off The Wagon» – complete with a memorable guitar solo from Roo Walker and a Dolly Parton-like vocal from Hanna – tell something of the singer’s faith in God during tougher times. Backed by a delightfully rootsy band (the occasional banjo, mandolin and lap steel make an appearance), Hanna’s voice just gets better and better and her performance on an incredibly poignant reading of the Elvis hit «Always On My Mind» is up there with the best. A contemporised cover of the country stalwart «I Saw The Light» is also included and may divide opinion – to me, it seems to bulldoze away the feel and charm of the Hank Williams original despite its undeniably accomplished delivery – but this does not detract in any way from the sheer quality found on yet another great release from the versatile Ms Hanna. [Lins Honeyman, Cross Rhythms, November 2017]
That’s now two very strong albums in a row. Hanna has learned from a spell in Nashville, but her sharp and hooky songwriting works well beyond country, as she expresses her faith in ways that anyone can relate to.
While Anglophile Americans like Sarah Darling are bringing country music to the UK, Yorkshire lass Philippa Hanna moved to Nashville for this one, taking on the USA at their own speciality.
The single «Off the Wagon» is one of two tracks aimed at that market, but she’s definitely hedging her bets here.
The Wizard of Oz-referencing «Dorothy» enjoys reggae rhythms; she flirts with slowed-down hip-hop («Let ‘em Fly» and «Do the Unthinkable») and there’s an acoustic ballad. Whatever the style, these songs are wrapped in sharp and clean production.
At first listen, you can think that she is diluting her faith down into feel-good platitudes for the wider audience, singing: “Everybody needs saving sometimes” and the somewhat fluffy line, “Keep on driving all the way to beautiful horizons,” but there’s a deeper work here. Telling how she is looking forward to Jesus’ return, Hanna urges her listeners to overcome fear with faith («Do the Unthinkable») and offer their dreams to God («Let ‘em Fly»).
Her springboard is faith, described in fresh ways that anyone can relate to. She is on a mission to tell people that they are beautifully and wonderfully made, despite the pressures they feel under – hence the motivational title track, with its go-for-it attitude (and some oh-too-brief, bluesy Paul Jones harmonica at the end). She also reassures listeners that they don’t always have to be «The Hero»:
“So why don’t you give yourself a break
You don’t have to be the hero
You don’t have to have the world all figured out…
If it’s hard it’s ok, you don’t have to be perfect.”On her other country track, the excellent, Bruce Carroll-like story-song «Getting on with Life» about cutting people some slack, she sings, “We’re all just getting on with living, trying to be forgiving when we don’t see eye-to-eye.” It is a fine way to accessibly take her worldview to others.
Keeping her balance, she ends with a couple of covers: the traditional «I Saw the Light», with a David Crowder feel to it, and a beautifully-sung rendition of the classic «Always on my Mind» that brings out all its emotion without overwrangling it
Not only does this disc show that she keeps developing, but she is putting the faith she sings about in «Let ‘em Fly» into action. [Derek Walker, The Phantom Tollbooth, 25 April 2018 ]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/come-back-fighting/1300655128)
CD tracklist:
01. Come Back Fighting – 3:19
02. Off the Wagon – 3:43
03. Dorothy – 2:53
04. Let ’em Fly – 3:33
05. The Hero – 3:13
06. Getting on With Life – 4:04
07. Do the Unthinkable – 3:53
08. Million Flowers – 4:14
09. I Saw the Light – 3:08
10. Always on My Mind – 3:43
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