aaamusic | On 24, Apr 2012

Bella Union seems to have found who appears to be just the coolest person on heart. Hannah Cohen is the apotheosis of hipsterdom; compared to her, Lana Del Rey could sell Big Issue outside Whitechapel tube station.
Her grandfather Bertie Rogers, poet and BBC broadcaster, used to hang out with the sorts of Dylan Thomas. Daughter of an American jazz drummer and a British hippie, Hannah, now 26, soaked up with intellectual curiosity, has already travelled around the world as photographer and model.
She owns the most preposterous Wikipedia page ever, where it is stated “when she did start sharing (her songs) with her friends, usually in the wee hours as a party was winding down, rooms were hushed, jaws were dropped, and it became clear to everyone who heard them that these songs were something very special indeed”. Although it is clear that this wiki-entry is just a copy and paste of her album press release, I still can’t convince myself to hate her, and the reason is simple.
In fact, from the first notes of opening track Don’t Say, her voice rises as elegant as a young Hope Sandoval, soft as a teenager version of Nina Nastasia, jaw-dropping exactly as her ludicrous wiki-page claims.
The touch of Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman (The National, Antony and the Johnsons) emerges from the feeble beats of the wistful The Crying Game and the haunting Sorry, adding a dark charm to Child Bride.
It is hard to find a weak spot, a mistaken effort in this ten-tracks precious collection, as long as the listener doesn’t deal with Child Bride as with a ‘normal’ album. Swallowed all at once Child Bride is dull and boring, taken little by little expresses all its magnificence and beauty.

★★★★★

Lorenzo Coretti