Hannah Rose Platt’s star is rising. The Liverpool-born singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and storyteller now based in Bristol released her third studio album, Deathbed Confessions in May of last year. This wonderfully imaginative record – striking a delicate balance between tenderness and terror – rightly attracted widespread critical acclaim and Platt’s career began to properly ignite.
There then followed a raft of summer festival dates and support slots in the autumn to first the legendary Canadian rock’n’roll band, The Sadies’ and then the celebrated English folk-punk singer Frank Turner. A haunting four-track EP Hypnagogia – inspired by Nordic folklore – ensued.
Come the New Year and Hannah Rose Platt then released a special deluxe edition of Deathbed Confessions, complete with four additional acoustic versions of songs from the album. She then went back out on tour again, this time opening for her label mates on Xtra Mile Recordings, The Sleeping Souls.
With nary a pause for breath, Hannah Rose Platt then began support act duties for the American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Chuck Ragan – the seventh of ten such shows is here in Leeds tonight – before this series of live performances culminates at The Other Palace in London on 16th February when she will play Deathbed Confessions and Hypnagogia in full.
Hannah Rose Platt tells us that tonight she will be “singing about ghosts and murder, but with a smile of excitement.” And accompanied by the excellent bassist Freddie Draper this is exactly what she proceeds to do. And therein lies the delicious dichotomy of Platt’s music; she seems almost inexorably drawn towards darkly twisted tales of horror – she acknowledges that the BBC television programme Inside No. 9 is a significant cultural reference point for her – but manages to deliver them all with the most charming twinkle in her eye.
Hannah Rose Platt begins this evening’s performance with ‘Dead Man on the G Train’, the opening song on Deathbed Confessions. Recounting a story of murder and deceit, it feels like the sonic equivalent of the 1944 classic film noir, Double Indemnity. Then by way of stark musical contrast and demonstrating her creative versatility in the process, Platt follows this up with the syncopated rhythms of ‘Tango With Your Fear’ from the very same album.
On Deathbed Confessions the song ‘The Kissing Room’ is “a lush 1940s piano ballad” but here stripped of its studio arrangement the backing is provided by Freddie Draper assuming his very best Jaco Pastorius position. The chorused sound that Draper creates is certainly redolent of Pastorius’s sublime work on Joni Mitchell’s album Hejira.
‘Date Night’ from the Hypnagogia EP echoes some delightful 50’s doo-wop, further emphasising Hannah Rose Platt’s melodic dexterity. Platt then goes back in time to her debut album Portraits from where she takes the song ‘1954’, a beautifully touching, melancholic vignette of one elderly person’s experience of dementia. She then concludes what has been the most perfectly balanced set of contrasting styles and conflicting emotions with a joyous romp through Tom Waits’ ‘Tango Till They’re Sore.’ Tonight her star has undoubtedly risen even further.
Photos: Simon Godley
More photos of Hannah Rose Platt at Brudenell Social Club
