Hannah Fury – “Through the Gash” Review

Hannah Fury returns with her second full length album (after several EPs) with her trademark vocal layering and haunting presence very much intact, adding synths and drum loops to her piano lullaby’s.

“Defenestration” opens the album showcasing how far Hannah has come. Organs and swaying string marches bleed over plodding drums with Hannah’s whispering death tolling voice sweetly tugging at your arm leading you towards oblivion.

My favourite track “No Man Alive” begins like a psycho circus looking for a kill before rolling piano riffs and breathy vocals that are heavily layered come to life, grow and grow to a screaming middle section that really satisfies your blood thirst. This song is easily in my top 50 all time songs and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

After the manic “No Man Alive” comes the eerily subdued “Don’t Be Scared” with ingenious use of stereo on the speakers. The electric piano and the fragile thin vocals of Hannah’s set up an emotive piece. Followed up by the warmer “You Don’t Leave A Trace” which twinkles and shines away like a lullaby for Lucifer, these two songs remind me more of the previous albums more piano based work but much more evolved. No where is the cross over made more apparent that with “Where the Wounds Are” which is classic Fury with rolling piano chords and high pitched witherings.

“You Had Me” is more organ and drum based and is almost as single-like as Fury has ever been. Its a welcome change to hear a well constructed single styled song from such an alternative artist and this could be used as a good starting point for first timers.

“Beware the Touch” is like a waltz gone wrong. The backward drum samples and chorus are the hooks to the song and again a killer middle 8 really pushes this song out into the open as a powerhouse. “Status” however is all about the grizzly bass and a certain quirky “Get Up” vocal that really sends shivers up your spine. In a similar vein “The Apple” has the same kind of song structure but replaces the bass with organ sounds and sends war waging shrieks at you in stereo swishes.

“Carousel” is a return to keyboard loops for a lonely and lost sounding song that comes across empty and hollow which is rounded off with “Never Look Back”, a scary and eerie music box/vocal piece. A bonus track where the carnival comes back for a last hurrah can be found too.

Hannah Fury is a complete individual. I’ve yet to stumble across anyone else like her. Take a piano, a keyboard and about ten thousand vocal layers and put them in a room with the grim reaper of love and that’s what Fury’s music is. It may be an acquired taste for some but it presses all my buttons and “Through the Gash” is a complete triumph.