2021 Portfolio
A collection of reviews and interviews for Pitchfork, The Singles Jukebox, and more.
As an audio engineer, I also mixed records for American Poetry Club, Zophia Dadlez, Cam Dasher, and Apologist.
Contact me at hannahjocelync@gmail.com
Pitchfork
Arlo Parks — Collapsed in Sunbeams: There are so many names — Charlie, Caroline, Millie — that it’s hard to keep track, and there are so many references and words of affirmation that it’s hard to remember who said what to whom.
The Staves — Good Woman: Even though the record often sounds like a battle between the musicians and their engineer [John Congleton], the songs on Good Woman are strong enough to overcome any friction.
London Grammar — California Soil: “How Does It Feel,” produced with Steve Mac (best known for Ed Sheeran’s inescapable “Shape of You”) doesn’t smooth out London Grammar’s quirks so much as place them in an entirely inappropriate context. Reid does her best, but her vocals clash against the stiff groove, the “Can’t Feel My Face”-style bassline, the sheer Rita Ora-ness of it all.
THEM.
SOPHIE Showed Us The Way: The words in “Immaterial” almost feel prescient: “Without my genes or my blood/With no name and with no type of story/Where do I live?/Tell me, where do I exist?” SOPHIE faced that question and created a body of work that frantically tore apart sound and gender, where enhancement and exaggeration created the most authentic presentation.
Ethel Cain Is the Gothic Rocker Who Wants to Shock, Terrify, and Love: Ethel Cain, a trapped-woman-turned-cult-leader character that Anhedonia invented in high school, is far from a protective exoskeleton. Cain is instead an extension of Anhedonia that explores human depravity, but also reflects her earnest belief in the power of femininity and womanhood.
The Singles Jukebox
Olivia Rodrigo — “Driver’s License”: How did the franchise of poorly edited water reflections come to include mournful cellos in every other song?
Of Monsters and Men — “Visitor”: They’re still growing into this sound — the triadic harmonies on the line “I was incapable” feel a little too clean for something this genuinely dark — but Of Monsters and Men is a rare post-Mumford band still trying new things and finding hidden depths.
Lil Nas X — Montero: If “Old Town Road” was borne of an unexplainable soft magic system, this is hard pop magic, following every rule to make something massive and discovering a few of its own.
