The Prince Albert, Brighton, April 5
Oh my word, we were certainly in for a treat this evening as Irish born chanteuse Hannah Peel was back in town.
Hannah was last in these here parts a year ago as a celebration for Record Store Day, where she entertained the long queue outside of Resident Music with her unique music box.
But tonight’s event was a totally different affair for the upcoming singer-songwriter as she was touring the country in support of her current album entitled Awake But Always Dreaming. This acclaimed album has been voted the No.1 Album of the Year 2016 by Electronic Sound Magazine, so it has been warmly received by those in the know.
Hannah has her fingers in many pies and thus cannot easily be pigeon-holed as sounding like a particular genre of music. She is an accomplished member of The Magnetic North (whose ranks include Simon Tong from The Verve and Blur) and she is a member of former Ultravox! front man John Foxx’s band The Maths.
She recently donned spectacles and became Mary Casio, who is a mythical character based on (the now sadly passed experimentalist) Delia Derbyshire of BBC Radiophonic Workshop fame. Just recall the original Dr Who theme as you have got it!
But tonight on stage Hannah was simply just Miss Peel. She was joined on stage by a very accomplished drummer called Daisy Palmer. The ladies played an all-to-brief, but thoroughly enjoyable ten song set, which consisted of nine songs from the aforementioned album plus the opening track from her Fabricstate EP entitled Silk Road.
The set started with my current Hannah fave, namely All That Matters which saw the synths and drums in perfect harmony – nailed it! Second up was one of my mates faves Silk Road, which was briskly followed by the pleasant Don’t Take It Out On Me and then onto the surprise of the night Awake But Always Dreaming. Oh my, this track was so powerful, I just couldn’t believe how superb it sounded. So it was surprisingly the best tune of the whole evening!
The remaining numbers were Tenderly, Standing On The Roof Of The World, Hope Lasts, Cars In The Garden, Foreverest and Conversations.
At the end I dutifully purchased the current CD as a memento of a terrific evening and got it signed too as well as the set-list. Hannah is such a nice grounded person it was a joy talking with her after the concert.
We also had an interesting discussion with tonight’s captivating support act, cellist Abi Wade who hails from Brighton but now resides in London.
So there you have it! I can’t wait for Hannah to return to Brighton, but I wonder under what guise it will be next time?
For more information visit www.hannahpeel.com
