Jeff Hanson on Myspace
Nobody but nobody sings quite like Jeff Hanson, and singularity has its price. This is something that Jeff Hanson has had to accept over the years. “Otherworldly,” is a preferable adjective to the lazy and far more common observation, “Wait a minute, is this is a dude singing?” The trick as a listener, the challenge, is not to let this entrancing flourish overshadow the meticulous pop and masterful songwriting craft of the music itself.
Jeff Hanson’s influences are largely beside the point. “I want this to be a Jeff Hanson record,” says the veteran songwriter of his third LP, “Madam Owl”, for the now legendary Kill Rock Stars label. Hoping to evade the somewhat unavoidable construction of a new artist as an amalgam of their most easily identifiable influences, on this record he has created a sound that is truly all his own. Not that this album marks a radical departure from the Jeff Hanson of his previous two records – the essential elements are all still here. The bare acoustic prettiness of his debut “Son” and the handcrafted pop-cleverness of “Jeff Hanson” have been developed here even further.
Often in the past his voice has filled the void left by what were comparatively sparse arrangements. On “Madam Owl” (the name comes from an unused potential song-title) a bent towards the baroque allows Jeff’s voice to find its harmonious place in an ensemble of timeless instruments, rather than fill the role of the instruments themselves.
Along with his remarkable voice is another quality for which Jeff has earned a reputation: consistency. This record, like its two predecessors, contains a set of pop-music symphonies, every one of which feels like it couldbe the record’s single.
At the age of 13, Hanson began his life in the music world with his surprisingly hard-hitting emo-indie band M.I.J. out of Wisconsin. The band generated some buzz with a few releases on Caulfield Records, and by the time Jeff decided to move on full-time to his own material, the band had already been together for seven years.
Jeff was able to score a deal with the legendary Kill Rock Stars label (shhh…he did it by mailing them his own demo. Yes, that actually does happen!) and all still in his early twenties. This is why at 30, Jeff is able to demonstrate the calm and assured self-possession of a true veteran. It is this quality which makes “Madam Owl” so much its own thing. This is not the overreaching record of a young artist trying to prove himself, but the latest effort in a musical career spanning more than a decade, to distill the essence of his unique gifts.
