A few years ago, when Hannah Georgas was first toting her guitar through the Vancouver music scene, she was known for her acoustic leanings. Then the more intricate production of her nascent recordings, in combination with her luscious voice, helped raise inevitable comparisons to Canada’s most favored musical export, Feist. But with Hannah Georgas, her self-titled new album, she’s found bold new ways to marry her essential singer/songwriter sensibility to elaborate studio soundscapes, while significantly upping the playfulness factor. It’s an album of rich, emotionally resonant synth-pop that isn’t afraid to walk a fine line between vintage new wave and contemporary ethereality, easily gliding from tongue-in-cheek come-ons to hauntingly emotional head trips.
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Heavy on the electronics, but not the electronica, Hannah Georgas harks back to a time when hookiness was the order (or New Order) of the day, and human emotions (or Human Leagues) ruled, even when the underlying textures tended toward the synthetic. Her principle cohort in this redefining effort was producer Graham Walsh, of the celebrated Canadian band Holy Fuck, who shared her desire to forge a sound that makes heavy use of pre-EDM keyboards. “Graham’s is a genius when it comes to creating and programming different synth sounds,” says Georgas, “we wanted to make a record where these sounds could come to life and be recreated in a live setting. I came to Graham with my guitar, and he brought his OP-1, Moog, other synths and pedals, and we jammed, sitting in a room together for almost three weeks doing pre-production." The resulting album somehow manages to sound both primitive and plush.
Lest this extended production hibernation makes it sound like Georgas is some sheltered studio rat, it’s worth noting that the recording sessions were sandwiched by two lengthy tours. She spent much of 2010 and 2011 hitting the road in support of her previous album, This is Good. And after recording Hannah Georgas in the fall of 2011, she headed back out for a four-month international tour with Kathleen Edwards that took her well into 2012. And she wasn’t just the opening act, but also pulled double duty as a member of Edwards’ backing ensemble. “Being in her band as well as doing my own set every night was an incredible experience for me,” she says. Doing your own thing and simultaneously participating in someone else’s project “is the best thing that an artist can do,” Georgas maintains. “I played a show recently in Vancouver and friend of mine said, ‘You’ve changed a lot since the last time that I saw you play. It’s ridiculous, how you’ve gotten your tour legs.’ I feel like I’m better on the mic, better on my instruments—I just own it more.”
Uptown magazine called her previous album “an expertly crafted and frequently adorable…gem of a pop record, full of infectious hooks and gorgeous vocal gymnastics courtesy of Georgas, who has the ability to go from girlish and sugar-sweet to raw and angst-ridden, sometimes in the same song.” The Vancouver Sun hailed her “bold, quivering voice and confessional approach to songwriting.” It wasn’t just critics getting Hannah-happy: She won “Emerging Artist of the Year” at XM’s Verge Music Awards in 2011 and “Solo Artist of the Year” at the Sirius/XM-sponsored Indies. This is Good was put up for the Polaris Music Prize. And at the 2011 Juno Awards, Georgas was nominated for both “Best New Artist of the Year” and “Songwriter of the Year.”
