Acclaimed singer, songwriter, visionary and fierce guitarist Hannah Wicklund has released her new single ‘Witness’. A deeply personal song about claiming heartbreak, embracing it and using that to heal through some of the toughest times in life. It is the latest song to be taken from her forthcoming album, The Prize, out October 13th via Strawberry Moon Records.
One of the most satisfying songs she’s ever written, ‘Witness’ is a song she says truly helped heal her. “Getting into your first relationship as a strong, driven, and young woman, it’s very difficult to experience someone dim your light, but even harder to recognize it,” Hannah confesses. “Insecurities within young people play out in terrifying ways, and it’s very hard to not absorb other people’s darkness. ‘Witness’ was the awareness I found in myself that it is not my responsibility to save anyone.”
Continuing about her artwork for the cover she says, “With the artwork behind ‘Witness’, I wanted to capture the release of someone from your life; that last look before they are gone. So clearly the castle is my space and watching “him” go from the front steps, as he saunters back into the world he came from, feels to me like a reclamation of my heart, mind and peace.”
The Prize finds Hannah coming into her own following the release of the Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin Stones debut album in 2018. The album showcases personal development translated through intentional musicianship all pointing to the thesis of the record: passing the baton from girlhood to womanhood. “I hope this record lyrically, musically, and artistically paints a picture of what raw feminine power and determination look, feel and sound like,” Hannah says.
The Prize has been produced by Sam Kiszka, marking the Greta Van Fleet bassist’s first producer credit outside of his band. The album also features Sam on bass, keys and organ, while fellow Greta Van Fleet member, Daniel Wagner, holds it down on drums. The 10 songs on The Prize serve as a rock ‘n' roll roadmap to a crossroads that Hannah has been unknowingly gravitating towards for over a decade.
“Working with Hannah was an incredible experience that glowed with inspiration all the way through the process,” Sam shares about working on The Prize. “With the help of Daniel on drums, we were able to craft a fully realized album that tells Hannah’s story in the exciting vernacular tradition of rock 'n’ roll. I’m proud of this album, The Prize, for Hannah, as an incredibly gifted musical artist, and I’m delighted I was able to help capture that lightning in a bottle.”
X marks the spot where the weary girl, speeding towards the woman she will become, meets in a fiery head-on collision. On this album, we hear from the woman rising from that wreckage. The woman who’s scarred but smarter, holds compassion for the girl who carried her here, and with wide-open eyes, unflinchingly stares down the future.
The Prize sonically parallels the experiences behind each lyric, working together to create an entire world within the record and highlighting the musical diversity Hannah brings to her music. Ethereal texturing, smoky falsetto vocals, string section surprises and guitar solos that carry equal parts pain and joy are woven tastefully into what Hannah says is, “A record that just sounds like ME.”
“Musically, I’ve always had a very strong sense of self, especially with a guitar in my hands, and I have never had to reach very far to express what I’m feeling,” she admits. “Lyrically, however, this record encapsulates something new, or at least more evolved within myself. The life I have lived has not been easy, or stagnant, but it has offered me ample opportunity to learn and grow, even if it’s been the hard way.”
Staying true to her own vision throughout this process, she’s remained grounded in the belief that how you do one thing, is how you do everything; “I’m messy, creative, emotional, and very, very passionate… If I can inspire one soul to follow their personal legend, I consider that a victory.”
Much like the paintings Hannah Wicklund has become known for — she’s also an accomplished artist with a brush and palette, and all the artwork surrounding The Prize for the album and singles are her own original paintings — each song on her second album is intricately entrancing and honoured with two things seemingly lost in today’s world… patience and time.
This record is rooted in embracing the femininity once shied away from, and exploring what becoming a woman has entailed. “Romantic relationships, business relationships, but most importantly the relationship I have with myself, all played their role in building this new world of mine,” Hannah declares. “A world in which I get to celebrate this beautiful peace I’ve finally found within myself; indeed, The Prize.”
The Prize Track Listing:
‘Hell In The Hallway’
‘Witness’
‘Hide and Seek’
‘Lost Love’
‘Song Bird Sing’
‘The Prize’
‘Can’t Get Enough’
‘Intervention’
‘Dark Passenger’
‘Sun To Sun’
