The happy and carefree associations with youth are everywhere, particularly in fashion, films and music, but just because that’s the general expectation, doesn’t mean that’s the experience for everyone. One artist whose teenage years were fraught with challenges is Hannah Robinson. As such she’s distilled those uncomfortable feelings into the cathartic format of song, which you can now hear as ‘Nineteen’.
The Gateshead musician layers the melancholic tones over intricate guitars and frenetic drums to produce the distinct sound that carries on throughout this single. Her voice is subtly folksy with a brooding huskiness, which she uses to portray that stream-of-consciousness from the perspective of her teenage self. Robinson questions her motivations, “Where are you going? You feel far from home. Do you wanna live this life all on your own?”, as the drums and guitars rambunctiously kick up to meet her level of emotion.
‘Nineteen’ is utterly hypnotic and naturally we want to know more about Hannah Robinson‘s story, which she had kindly provided for us here:
“As the age of nineteen approached I found myself hidden behind the face of someone who appeared to be happy and sociable, however inside I was struggling to ground myself and completely lost track of who I was. Feeling like an imposture in my own mind and amongst others, going out and partying became the answer to everything; it felt like a safety blanket to protect me from my problems. The main purpose for this release is to not only pull out every emotion I felt and interpret it musically, but to also produce a song for you all to possibly relate to, to find comfort in, or even just to spend a few moments whilst listening to reflect on your own journeys and the struggles you’ve had to go through.”
She wraps up this sincere message by saying that, “This song is the most vulnerable I have ever been when it comes to writing music. It closes the door to my past that I spent so long leaving open due to not knowing how to lock it; now I can finally throw away the key and leave you all to hear the journey I went through to become the person I am today!”
You can also listen to ‘Nineteen’ in our Indie Rockers and Folk This Way playlist.
Follow Hannah Robinson:
UNRECORDED 