From supporting Shania Twain at BST Hyde Park to performing on the bill of the inaugural Bludfest at Milton Keynes Bowl, 2024 has been a whirlwind year for rising star Hannah Grae.
Last year, the British artist graced the stages of some of the UK's most high-profile festivals, including the likes of 2000 Trees, The Great Escape, along with Reading and Leeds, to name but a few. Team DARKUS first encountered Hannah on the BBC Introducing stage at Leeds Festival last year.
Recollecting her Reading and Leeds experience, Hannah said "I loved it because Reading, in particular, was the festival that all of my friends talked about growing up, and I was supposed to go actually in 2020 to be a punter, but obviously the lockdown happened."
Hannah adds: “Reading and Leeds was the end of my summer run of festivals, so it just felt like so much momentum had built. And I think the BBC Introducing stage is so special. I loved meeting all those artists. It feels like such a community and everyone's backing each other and rooting for each other. So yeah, I really loved those.”
Hannah has had a steady stream of releases and some key live shows so far this year. “2024 has been incredible. I've been writing a lot; that's kind of been my main focus for the beginning of the year. I had my headline show as well, which was my first headline show ever, and that was such a milestone for me. So yeah, so far, the first half of the year has just been one of the best years.”
If you listen to Hannah’s lyrics, they appear to come from a personal place. Particularly if you listen to songs like Grae’s forthcoming single Star Crossed Lover. However, is this an approach she prefers when writing songs? “I think in the beginning, it was more of a challenge and that writing from a personal point of view was actually out of my comfort zone” said Hannah.
“When I first started writing songs, I was just posting YouTube and TikTok videos. Often, my followers would send in their scenarios, and I would write songs for them. That kind of became my musical education I guess - that's how I learned to write songs. But actually, now I think it is becoming second nature to just be completely honest and vulnerable in writing because it helps me in those situations. It helps me how I feel, helps me understand it. In my brand new track Star Crossed Lover, in particular, it just brings humour to a situation that has so many nuances. I listen to it, and I laugh and I just love that.”
Hannah's previous release, New Temptation, is a real earworm, with big hooks and a catchy chorus. "I think I wrote that in the middle of writing my second project, and I wanted to write a song that was a little bit darker. I look back on that project, and I think I was masking a lot, and I was still trying to be honest in my writing, but I was doing it through metaphors, and I wasn't being too blunt with it there,” said Hannah.
“New Temptation, was kind of about me just choosing a path that I wasn't expecting to choose. I thought that I was going to go to university and study law, and I just chose this path instead. If you listen to the song, that's so not what you get from it, and I think that's one thing that I guess I've changed since then is, I am quite enjoying being a bit more on the nose with things.”
When you look down the tracklisting for Hannah’s album Nothing Lasts Forever, perhaps a song title that leaps off the page is Aeroplane Jelly. “My producer who I wrote that with was Australian. And I think there's a brand of jelly called Aeroplane Jelly in Australia and I think we had it one time. I was like I really want to call the song Aeroplane Jelly and so that's how that happened,” confirms Hannah.
The artist worked with producer Rob Brinkmann on both, New Temptation and Aeroplane Jelly. "He was one of the first producers I worked with, and we did develop a really great thing while writing. We were a great team, and he introduced me to a lot of music from before I was born and to a whole new world of music that I then sort of fell in love with,” said Hannah. “I think that was the main thing that he brought to that it was that whole musical education. I'm now trying to find even more and kind of build on that, but it was definitely key to writing those projects.”
But which artists would Hannah say have influenced her sound and musical direction? “There's so many. I would say currently, I love Alanis Morrissette and I love how honest she is with her writing. I'd say she's quite an inspiration to me writing-wise. Sonically, I think I'm trying to fit more into a fun current sound now. I love Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter. I just love those girls. I think it's just fun,” confirms Hannah. “I was talking to my friends about this the other day. I think music is kind of getting to a point again where it's fun, and people are experimenting, and it doesn't all fit into one box.”
Hannah Grae has been acknowledged as an artist to watch by many high-profile media outlets including NME and Rolling Stone. "It's so surreal, and I think at the time, I really tried to make sure that I was taking it all in. Because me, two or three years ago, would freak out at that. Rolling Stone was crazy, and I'm still so shocked by these things. I'm so grateful to be a part of this, and yeah it just makes me feel so excited,” said Hannah.
Hannah's rise has been catalysed by platforms such as TikTok and YouTube. But did she expect posting cover songs on social media to take off the way it did? "I think because I started in lockdown it was kind of all I was doing, there was nothing else to do. I didn't necessarily expect it, but when it happened it was kind of toxic, but there is no feeling like watching one of your videos every minute just get another hundred thousand views - it was just insane. That particular Barbie Girl video just didn't stop. It did after a while, but for days it was just me and my parents, and there was so much buzz in my house because no one had done anything for two months,” said Hannah.
“I don't know, I felt like I manifested it. I would daydream about working in music, not that I had any idea how to do that or what that entails, but I used to daydream about working with producers and writing projects about my life. I just kind of planned that it would happen from posting on TikTok and YouTube, and then it did.”
This year’s summer festival season sees several prominent appearances for Hannah including a date with Shania Twain at BST Hyde Park. "Shania and Natalie Imbruglia these people are huge inspirations to me. My mum loves Shania Twain, and I grew up listening to a lot of Shania, and I reference both of those artists now. I'm just like she's seen my name,” said Hannah. “She's incredible.”
Hannah was also chosen to appear on the bill at Bludfest at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes alongside Yungblud, Soft Play, Nessa Barrett, The Damned and a whole lot more. “I'm so excited. Yungblud has been so supportive of me, and he gives me very good advice about the industry. I just really appreciate that he's having me on that line-up. It's such an incredible line-up, and I just love what the festival stands for as well. He's really putting his heart into this, and it's coming from such a good place. I think it's just going to be a great atmosphere,” explains Hannah.
“I played a Welsh showcase night in Cardiff, and that was just such an incredible community. Like I said before, everyone's just backing each other, and it just feels like such an incredible thing to be a part of, and yeah, I think Bludfest will feel the same.”
Having ticked off her debut headline show, does the artist have any plans to go on tour? “I would love to do a tour. I'm sure that would happen at some point, and I'd love to tour Europe, and I'd love to go to America,” said Hannah. “My first headline was at the Grace, and I played one of my first ever shows there two years ago, so it felt very full circle. But I'm really glad that I got to be in a club room and just really feel the energy and see everyone's faces. I think that paired with my music just goes quite well together, but I do want to do a tour for sure.”
Summer festivals aside, what does the rest of 2024 look like for Hannah? “For the first time I'm just kind of seeing what happens. I'm quite enjoying writing because I wrote Star Crossed Lover in April, and I've already posted snippets of it on my social media, and it feels so exciting. Everything's just happening in the moment, whereas my last two projects I wrote two years before they came out, which also has its benefits as well, but I'm enjoying just seeing how things go and embracing whatever happens,” concludes Hannah.
Released on 16th August 2024, Hannah Grae's latest single Star Crossed Lover is available to listen to on all major platforms.
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Article By Adam Kennedy
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