Country-pop singer/songwriter Hannah Ellis has spent years writing in Nashville, a rite of passage almost in the scene these days. Having finally started to release her own stuff under her name over the last few years, all roads have lead to this: her debut album. It is released on Friday and, if the singles are anything to go by, it’s going to be great. However, let’s take a dive into it and see for ourselves!
‘Country Can’ is the perfect opening track. The slow-build, simple verse into the huge, arena-filling chorus was great. And while it leans heavily into pop, there is still a great country twang to it with the strings and vocal delivery (and of course the lyrics). Hannah Ellis ‘ vocals are incredible throughout, but especially on the few runs on the last chorus. There isn’t much to say about the track; it’s a very radio-friendly structure that doesn’t really take any risks or do anything unexpected. However, it’s a fantastic song and an awesome album opener and introduction to Hannah for people who are otherwise unfamiliar.
Another single, ‘Us’, dives a bit deeper into the country sound. While there are still clear electronically produced sounds, the greater focus on the guitars and strings were a nice touch. We even get a bit of a guitar solo in the middle, which was nice. It’s got a very Lindsey Ell feel to it in all the best ways. The chorus is again massive and catchy, one of my favourites on the whole album. It’s one that easily makes our playlist!
The first brand new track and the album’s title one is up next. It’s another fantastic track, following a similar formula from the previous two tracks. The huge chorus is of course the main highlight of the track, but I found myself really enjoying the lyrics in this track. The feel pretty personal and emotional to Hannah, and I’m sure they’ll resonate with plenty of her fans. We get a fun little guitar solo tucked in the middle, too. I think instrumentally, it would all come across so well, and maybe even slightly heavier live. Hopefully she does a UK tour or plays at The Long Road or something this year, as I have to see tracks like this live!
Hannah Ellis released four singles last year, and all of them of course end up on this album. The first, ‘Someone Else’s Heartbreak’ is a poppy piano ballad. It’s beautiful, well written and incredibly emotional. It reminds me a bit of that album Demi Lovato put out when she returned after rehab. It’s an amazing track, but not something we usually tend to cover much of here, unfortunately. Not like ‘Wine Country’. Said track is amazing, being the most country-rock of the album and a fun, upbeat song. It’s somewhere between Randy Houser and Walker Hayes’ ‘Fancy Like’, though thankfully not as cringy as the latter. It is just a good-time listen that it’s almost impossible not to love. It’s another on our playlist!
The other two tracks, ‘Karma on the Rocks’ and album closer ‘Too Much and Not Enough’, are two more beautiful tracks. Both are fairly similar in structure and sound to the opening track, though the latter is a bit slower and more stripped-back. I actually love the closing track more and more with each listen. It builds beautifully and by the end feels and sounds massive, an epic conclusion that couldn’t have been done better. It’s another song that I’d LOVE to hear live.
The next few songs are new tracks on the album, ‘Still’, ‘Replaceable’, ‘Somebody Else’ and ‘Plans’. They’re also all great. Lots of big, stadium-filling choruses and great guitar and string work to give it that country twang. My favourite of the bunch is ‘Replaceable’. It’s a little more stripped-back and more country than pop. Hannah’s vocals and delivery also really remind me of a band we covered on here last year, White Rose Motor Oil, who I LOVED. It’s also a little more positive than a few of the other tracks on the album! It’s another that easily makes our playlist! But again, all the tracks I named are damn good, and fit together on the album rather perfectly.
Slightly older single ‘Home and a Hometown’ is another slower country banger. It very much remind me of early Taylor Swift or, again, a Lindsey Ell/Tenille Townes sound. It’s an infectiously catchy track and deserves way more than the nearly three million streams it’s gotten until now. It’s another track that I feel would be so powerful live, too. Then the final track on the album for us is ‘One of the These Days’. Honestly, it has a very similar feel to it to ‘…Hometown’, which certainly isn’t a bad thing! It’s another fantastic song to round out a whole album full of them!
Overall: This was awesome! It’s certainly on the poppier end of the country spectrum, but I had a whale of a time listening to it and will definitely be having more than a few of the songs on again quite a lot! If you’re a fan of modern country, you’ll find a lot to love with this release. And I feel like the name Hannah Ellis will become massive off the back of this, too! A cracking debut album and a great first country album of 2024!
The Score: 8.5/10