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I Saw Hannah Georgas First

But it's nice that the rest of you have caught up.

Alex Hudson 25 Apr 2013TheTyee.ca

Alex Hudson writes for various music publications and runs a blog called Chipped Hip.

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Never let it be said Hannah Georgas lacks tile.

The first time I heard Hannah Georgas was in late 2008, when she opened up an all-local bill that also included Hey Ocean!, Said the Whale and Dan Mangan. Although she was the least established act of the night, her on-stage charisma was magnetic, and she easily stole the show. I walked away absolutely convinced that she would become Canada's Next Big Thing.

This is probably starting to sound like I'm boasting about how "I was there first," so I'll get to the point: Hannah Georgas has seemed like a star in the making from the get-go, and that's why it was satisfying -- but not in the least bit surprising -- to watch her televised performance at the Juno Awards this past Sunday, April 21.

What makes Georgas' nation-wide success particularly well-deserved is that she has managed to take artistic risks and reinvent herself along the way. Rather than stick to the folk-pop blueprint of her early works, her recent self-titled sophomore album finds her venturing into steely synth-rock with help from producer Graham Walsh of Holy Fuck. Instead of acoustic guitars and heartland harmonies, the new songs are anchored by processed beats, synthesizers and new wave guitar grit.

Of course, she's hardly the first songwriter to venture into synthesizer-heavy pop, but Hannah Georgas isn't a glossy and predictable radio record. It doesn't even have an obvious single, since the Vancouver vocalist peppers the lyrics of the album's most upbeat track, "Millions," with enough F-bombs to make it a poor candidate mainstream airplay.

Instead, the album features a collection of songs that hover between accessibility and adventurousness; "Elephant" and "Enemies" build from sparse electronic swells to dark crescendos, while the icy minimalism of "What You Do to Me" evokes the XX and includes a glitchy synth break.

The two best songs of the bunch are stuffed right at the end of the album. The waltzing "Ode to Mom" is steeped in hymnal drama and the mood is optimistic despite a palpable undercurrent of resigned heartbreak. The closing "Waiting Game" is similarly emotionally ambiguous, as a peaceful melody sweetens bummed out lyrics like "Life, another word for the waiting game / And I stand by the phone."

I don't mean to suggest that Hannah Georgas is overtly freaky or experimental -- my mom likes it, after all -- but it's a departure for a singer who first made a name for herself with cute acoustic ditties. With any luck, she's be back at the Junos again soon; maybe next time, Leonard Cohen won't be nominated, so she'll actually have a shot at winning that Songwriter of the Year award.

Hannah Georgas plays at the Rio Theatre on Friday and Saturday, April 26-27.  [Tyee]

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