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2011 The Broken Wave CD Static Discos 222 

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1 The Almond Tree   
2 You Call This Your Home   
3 Song for the Sea   
4 Today Is Not So Far Away   
5 Don't Kiss the Broken One   
6 Solitude   
7 Unwound   
8 Is This the Start?   
9 Cailin Deas Cruite Na Mbo   
10 The Parting Glass   

Hannah Peel has had an unconventional history leading to this richly 

rewarding debut album. Irish-born but Yorkshire-raised, she played fiddle in 

her father’s band in Ireland. Trained at Liverpool Institute for Performing 

Arts, she started composing when working on a theatre show that needed 

songs. On the EP Rebox, her only previous release, she accompanied herself 

with a hand-cranked music box, incongruously covering classics by Cocteau 

Twins, New Order, OMD and Soft Cell – mostly songs older than the singer 

herself.

In complete contrast, The Broken Wave features eight Peel originals plus two 

traditional Irish songs. Her compositions avoid the conventional 

verse-chorus-verse form, their restrained melodies giving each its own 

distinctive charm. They vary in mood, covering subjects from the joy and 

hope of falling in love through to the pain and loss of betrayal.

Peel’s lyrics often have a mysterious, poetic quality. Rather than tackling a 

subject head-on, she tends to employ allusions and metaphors. Her insights 

into the break up of relationships display a maturity rare in a 28-year-old. Her 

voice is her other great asset. Although occasionally reminiscent of other 

singers, it is unmistakably unique. Crucially, its fragile beauty ideally conveys 

the longing and yearning contained within the complex emotions of the songs.

On Solitude, addressed to a lost love, it brings a lump to the throat to hear 

her deliver these lines in a frail, vulnerable voice, "The look on your face as 

she moves near / My eyes start to burn, oh why don’t they close / I just want 

to see why she is better than me, better than me / Better than me." Ouch.

The accompanying music is folk-pop with just enough quirky edginess to keep 

it sounding fresh. Producer Mike Lindsay achieves a fine balance between 

sensitively showcasing Peel’s voice and upstaging it, only rarely overdoing the 

drums. Peel plays violin and piano, as well as deploying that music box on the 

two Irish songs. On Solitude and the equally poignant Don’t Kiss the Broken 

One, subtle string arrangements by Nitin Sawhney complement and enhance 

the vocals without being a distraction.

cd ripped by dBpoweramp

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http://dickthespic.org/2011/02/07/hannah-peel/