Last month, we were mesmerised by the debut single from Liverpool band King Hannah, “Crème Brulée”, so we’re pleased to bring you today’s news that they will be releasing their debut EP, Tell Me Your Mind And I’ll Tell You Mine, in just a few short weeks on November 20. Along with this news comes a new song called “Meal Deal” and video filmed at the historic Playhouse Theatre in Liverpool.
This time out, on “Meal Deal”, King Hannah paint drama with a splashy take on Americana, Craig Whittle’s guitar casting a glimmering atmosphere around the moody rhythm guitar. Hannah Merrick slips into the shadowy surroundings with aplomb, her dusky voice unspooling scenes of looking around properties – “what you think mister spider, are you moving in with us? / You might as well because there’s three baths and two of us.” Her tone remains even, but there’s a glowering disillusionment floating just beneath the surface. Mundane lines like “what a waste of shower space” seem to be papering over some deeper discontentment, glimpsed in other admissions like “I like it there, I can see us living there / but was it too far? Probably, yeah.” Perhaps it’s purely to do with the stress of moving, but Hannah’s powerful voice compels us to think it’s something more emotionally-driven than that.
Around the half way point, “Meal Deal” cracks open, voice and guitar both echoing out in psychedelic spirals. Hannah’s words seem to be letting us a little deeper – “every once in a while I’ll try something new / and if it goes wrong I’ll try it again…” But just when it seems we might get a little deeper inside her mind, she drifts away, and Craig’s resplendent guitar playing takes over, delivering an extended and scorching guitar solo, melting “Meal Deal” into a gorgeous stream of gold for its final minutes, the perfect accompaniment as we contemplate Hannah’s predicament.
King Hannah have also filmed a video for “Meal Deal”, saying: “We had the pleasure of shooting Meal Deal at the beautiful and iconic Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool, which Craig directed, shot and edited. We wanted to utilise the unique space we had, it’s such an old theatre with all these unsettling green corridors and dark corners, which complement the moodiness of the song really well. We also wanted to make it theatrical, and so the stage, spotlights and empty auditorium became a location that the video could build towards, almost like a finale. Hopefully it has that indie, homemade feel with a touch of drama and suspense.”
Look out for King Hannah’s Tell Me Your Mind And I’ll Tell You Mine EP, arriving on November 20 via City Slang (pre-save). Make sure to follow them on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
