www.hannahdelynn.com

Hannah Delynn, a Nashville-based vocalist/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, independently released her debut full-length album, Trust Fall, on September 5. Hannah’s ability and openness to view life from many perspectives result in songs that are emotionally engaging and compelling. Finding freedom through vulnerability, this record is a testament to accepting self-responsibility and the myriad mixed emotions that entails.

Hannah says, “I write about matters of the heart and hope my words and songs bring you hope and healing and connect you with the beauty that is all around us—even when it feels difficult to see.”

Originally from Florida, Hannah found her way to Nashville in 2013 by way of New Zealand, British Columbia, and Australia, gathering stories (soon to be songs) along the way. This collection of songs honors a potent sea of change in Delynn’s life as she reflects on a season of deep grief, loss, betrayal, and heartbreak, as well as beauty, love, generosity, and friendship.

Hannah says, “I have been learning how to more deeply trust myself, others, and the world around me. Life has a way of alchemizing pain and hardship into beautiful blessings and gifts, but it can feel like we’re first being melted down in the crucible or turned to goo in the chrysalis. Learning to ask for help and to summon both courage and surrender during those moments has been a vital, if uncomfortable, process, and these songs have come from that cauldron. They are soul-friends, catharsis, comforters, and companions.”

While blind faith may certainly be called upon in this idea of a trust fall, the album more references the understanding that life is a co-collaboration with Spirit, which can, more often than not, require us to lean into some fairly gritty discomfort zones. Hannah says, “But that’s the point. You want life to be different? You’re gonna have to do things differently. But you don’t have to go it alone… To put it another way, it’s about learning to ask for help…”

“Trust Fall was made with some of my favorite people on earth,” says Hannah. “We are close friends, and I think that’s what allowed for the depth of vulnerability. Each person made me feel so completely held and free to just ‘be’ and truly open up and let the raw emotion of these songs flow into the performances.”

Produced by fellow songwriter Maya de Vitry, who also sings harmony and performs on the album, the pair brought together a fantastic cast of Nashville musicians to record, including further harmonies by Alex Wilder (also on piano/Wurlitzer), Ethan Jodziewicz on arco and ukulele bass, as well as cameos by John Mailander on fiddle and electronics, Jordan Tice on guitar, Annaliese Kowert on violins, and Lizzy Ross on harmony vocals.

When Hannah and friends set out to record, they started at a charming bluff-view cabin, “In The Pines,” nestled in the heart of the forest of Monteagle, TN. With Ethan engineering, they laid down the guitar and some vocals before Hannah came down with bronchitis two days before they were set to finish what was to be a more simple recording. After a bit of time and healing, they collectively decided to take a bit more time with it and add more to the mix, which changed the entire trajectory of the album. They went on to record further and bring in more guest musicians to finish the album in Ethan’s home studio, The Secret Woods.

Additional engineering was provided by Wilder at Phantom Studio in Gallatin, TN. Trust Fall was mixed by Jason Richmond at The River House in Hillsborough, NC, and mastered by John McLaggen at Parachute Mastering in New Brunswick, Canada.

Trust Fall contains 11 original songs by Delynn, including a few co-writes credited to de Vitry (“Leaf on a River,” “Blood Alone,” and “No Small Thing,” as well as string arrangements on ”For the Record”), Josh Rennie-Hynes (“For the Record”), and Clare Reynolds (“Jealousy”). “Waiting” has chordal arrangements by Emily Mann.

“For the Record,” the album’s first single, is what Hannah calls “a prelude, of sorts, to the rest of the record with a cinematic string arrangement and the desire to communicate goodwill after a trying relationship.” The violins of special guest chamber musician Annaliese Kowert enhance the song’s symphonic tones as she joins the mix of Delynn on acoustic guitar, de Vitry on synth, and Jodziewicz on arco bass.

Glide Magazine says, “Placing Hannah’s vocals and lyrics front and center, the song [‘For the Record’] is an intimate work of folk brimming with soulful beauty… There is a powerful sense of emotion that is conveyed through the combination of the vocals and the strings, making this a work of sparse yet bold music.”

“Leaf on a River” has a cathartic feel, starting gently and then picking up speed, much like a rushing river. It is a song about acceptance and grief, grace, and forgiveness—of self and others—and features three-part harmonies with Delynn, Wilder, and guest vocalist Lizzy Ross.

Nostalgic and wistful, “Best Guess” is about the bittersweetness of coming to terms with a relationship ending while wrestling with the glimmer of hope that still exists and recognizing the power one has in how to respond. With a simple arrangement, the song highlights Hannah’s vocal harmonies over her playing the nylon string guitar and synth, accompanied by Wilder on piano.

The heartwrenching “Blood Alone” (the album’s 2nd single) sees Delynn on rhythm guitar, harmonizing with de Vitry, and includes special guest Jordan Tice (Hawktail) on acoustic guitar and Wilder on Wurlitzer. Americana Highways says of it, “Set up with a big sound, vocals close to the mic, and instruments occupying just the right spaces, Hannah sings from the depths of her soul straight into yours. Family is a tough thing for some folks… Some of us have lived this heartbreak.”

“No Small Thing” is about acknowledging a heartbreak one didn’t want to accept. The angst and love are visceral through Hannah’s words and electric guitar, backed by the solid presence of Maya’s acoustic guitar and synth.

Take a deep breath: “Marion” lands at the halfway point of the album and serves to clear the mind before the album journeys forward. This found-sound field recording features Hannah’s improvised instrumental guitar piece set against a backdrop of birds chirping and the sounds of footsteps walking in the woods.

Mystical and animist, there’s a sense of peace in “Mind of God.” Starting with sparseness, then building up into resplendent harmonies, with Maya’s voice representing the angelic, heavenly, and omnipresent figure of an ethereal god and Wilder’s voice as the comforting, constant presence of a companion that is always close. Hannah says, ‘It’s my take on the nature and magic of God/theUniverse/Spirit/what-have-you and how we’re all intertwined and interdependent in the web of life.”

Playful and uplifting, “The Rooster’s Dead” adds another emotional turning point towards growth in the album’s story. Looking forward instead of looking back, like making a wish or finally being able to see humor, hope, and brighter possibilities, the song features a fun “hum choir” of harmony hum-singing from Hannah and Maya as well as some laughter.

Hannah has just released “Jealousy,” the third single. The song’s raw, almost pop sound shows complete vulnerability in shedding light on a difficult emotion—coming to peace with one’s own journey and the beauty and necessity of our unique paths. Hannah says, “Instead of being a shameful thing, jealousy can be an insight into what one really wants by seeing others as mirrors to oneself.”

The Bluegrass Situation premiered the track, calling it “anchored by emotive piano, exploring the depths and catacombs of often squashed emotions.”

“Wishes” is about making peace. Reflecting on what is instead of ruminating on what could have been. It’s an intimate track where you can hear and feel the surroundings of the cabin. It is the only solo with just Hannah and her nylon string guitar.

“Waiting” is inspired by the Celtic tradition of Sean-nos singing. Hannah says, “This track came to form as a conversation between two voices: vocal and fiddle. It went through a few iterations before arriving here, a duet between myself and John Mailander, who played fiddle and created the soundscape/drones with loop pedals.”

Written after her mother passed away in February 2021, “Waiting” deals with the somber nature of contemplating mortality and what’s truly important in life. Hannah says, “Realizing I’ve been ‘waiting in the eddy’ and not taking responsibility for living life to its fullest ultimately made me see that life is short, however long. That it’s precious and it’s a gift to be able to live it and to share it with the people we love.”

“Trust Fall is an album that can help heal the world,” says John Mailander. “Hannah’s collection of songs is vulnerable and deeply personal but also something we can see a part of ourselves in. On ‘Waiting,’ Hannah’s idea to play together as a voice and fiddle duet for this final track feels like it encompasses the ethos of the album to me—it’s raw and exposed but strong, powerful, and human.”

Hannah says, “The songs in Trust Fall draw a beautiful image of the embodiment of trusting in both ourselves and others, as well as forces seen and unseen. It is about the collaboration of the physical (boots on the ground/hands in dirt work of living) and the spiritual (trusting the magic of life as it weaves its tapestry). For me, it was about an internal shift—an experiment in trusting myself, my intuition, and whatever forces are out there that we’re interfacing with. I like to call it Spirit. It was very much like stepping out and trusting the ground would meet me, so to speak. From there, it rippled out into learning to trust others and the world around me more and more. In many ways, the world around us mirrors our beliefs back to us, and I wanted to begin taking responsibility for my part in that co-creation.

For more information, please visit: www.hannahdelynn.com.