Macwood Fleet: Albums Of 2023: Hannah Rose Platt

One thing I have always loved since I was a kid was a story song.

This young lady, Hannah Rose Platt, is an absolute Master of them.

Very much in the Country/Americana/Singer-Songwriter camps she has now weaved her delicate way through three exquisite long playing records of which this is number 3. And it's the best work she's done. So far! In a very wise move indeed she enlisted fellow singer songwriter, Ed Harcourt to take the productions reigns and for his instrumental prowess which features throughout the album.

I've been lucky enough to meet her and see her live and her broad Liverpudlian brogue will light up any room she enters. Diminutive in stature and often voice, she will seduce you into submission on this record as she has in her previous two albums, Portraits (2015) and Letters Under Floorboards (2019).

But believe me, Deathbed Confessions is an absolute killer - if you'll excuse the pun. It's full of dark, gothic themes and visuals. Imagine Tim Burton recording an album with the voice of an angel and you'll probably be in the correct ball park, or cemetery!

The album open with the chugging of a train and we're into Track 1 - Dead Man On The G Train.

Full of electrics and atmosphere it bowls along at a pace. A fabulous start.

'Doesn't see me pull a pistol out of my left thigh.'

Dead Man On A G Train

Track 2 - Heddy Lamar is a beautiful and graceful song in the shape of waltz.

It's based around an acoustic guitar and piano motif with Hannah's gentle voice.

'I'll edit these frames and the shame into scenes I can bear'

Heddy Lamar live at Wolf Cabin

Track 3 - House For Wayward Dolls is an unsettling and almost childlike song. With lots of sound coming in and out of your speakers and it brings to mind the title sequence of the old ITV show, Tales Of The Unexpected.

Indeed, the album is very cinematic and the songs easily conjure images into your head and credit here must go to Hannah and Ed for creating such a soundscape for the songs to work their magic.

'A Barbie to my left with a cut across her throat'

Track 4 - The Mermaid & The Sailor includes a duet with said Mr Harcourt and is your classic Sailor meets Mermaid seduction story but with a twist which I'll let you discover for yourself.

'So abandon your ship, come take a dip, in the depths where it's oh so warm'

The Mermaid & The Sailor

Track 5 - Wendigo Rag - a discordant and surreal stomp with some heavy bass lead and pub piano looseness with Hannah in severely spooky mood.

'Her face becomes a Jackson Pollock canvas of blood'

Track 6 - Inventing The Stars (interlude) is the beautiful short interlude featuring the Budapest Cinematic Orchestra just to reinforce the point that you are listening to something conceived in as much of a visual (of the mind) experience as an aural one.

Track 7 - The Kissing Room is a beautiful (once again) cinematic ballad, piano based, it tells the story of two lovers in Grand Central Station as they meet in the Kissing Room - a real place. Look it up!! It's romantic and sweet but acknowledging the album it's in is also spooky and a little unsettling

'Sounds of bullets and hearts breakingIn my ears as I roamRound the shoeshine boy still sleepingNear a booth of telephones'

Track 8 - The Gentleman gives some light in the darkness and some hope in the despair and it's the brightest track on the album with it's rolling piano motif, it's just what is needed and comes at exactly the right time. Splendid editing and sequencing.

'Strolls the streets with sincerityLooking for new souls in needOrchestrating harmonyA quiet conductor of good deeds'

The Gentleman

Track 9 - Tango With Your Fear opens with some silky upright bass with it's dynamic Tango beat it dances it's way across the grooves while Hannah's voice hits number 10 in seductiveometer as she whispers and caresses your ears into submission.

'You're the one who leads'

Track 10 - Feeding Time For Monsters is probably the signature tune for the record and sums up everything that has gone before. A gorgeous slice of gothic Americana with dissonant guitar counterpointing Hannah's delicious dreamy vocals.

'The broken necks of 'could-have-been's'Swinging, dangling, from the beamsLike the truth'

Feeding Times For Monsters

Track 11 - Dead Man's Reprise takes us back to track one for some spooky expansions on themes from that track.

Track 12 - For The Living, For The Lost - another piano led ballad brings some light into the record in an almost dark Brian Wilson phrasing from the Surf's Up album era and with some beautiful Lester Brown trumpet work it's the most unexpected but gorgeous moment of the whole record for me.

'Devils dressed as guards along the platformAngels holding paper cups for changeCarriage full of faces so familiarWatching as you take your place'

Deathbed Confessions Interview - Part 1

Track 13 - Inventing The Stars is a 4 minute orchestral piece featuring the Budapest Cinematic Orchestra yet again, And it's just like watching the credits roll in your head. And it's a beautiful way of closing a gorgeous album.

A huge step forward for Hannah. And a glorious listening experience for the listener.