Hana Piranha – Wingspan
Release Date: 17th November 2023
Last month saw the latest album from Hana Piranha, the alias of Hana Marie, who grew up in Wellington, New Zealand before moving just before her teen years over to the south coast of England. This new album, Wingspan, is the fifth full-length release for the artist who is starting to make a name for herself through dramatic and evocative soundscapes, haunting vocals and a varied style that keeps everything fresh despite some more classic elements scattered throughout.
Opening with the slow, stumbling first half of ‘Azure’ is the perfect way to build into the rest of the album. As those opening couple of minutes draw you in, the grand entrance with strings accompanying chants of “lost to the tide” become almost overwhelming as they repeat for the rest of the track. ‘I Wanna Leave’ then changes everything again. The classic hard rock vibes take over with big guitars coming and going, though the track does resort back to repetitive lyrics in places, especially towards the end of the song.
Up next though is the lead single of the album. ‘Lorelei’ is another step up in terms of power and energy, with some mild electronica coming in to add several further layers to what has been built so far. All this alongside the most expansive vocals seen across the entire 48 or so minutes of Wingspan. Something that isn’t said lightly as the vocals on this album are certainly the real highlights. This is true even when the album hits peak drama on ‘The Devil Always Pulls Through’. Here strings enhance everything around them as the track becomes more and more operatic and provide the highlight of the album through impressive storytelling and an incredibly engaging musical narrative.
Whilst maintaining the pure level of energy that ‘The Devil Always Pulls Through’ was going to provide unsustainable, there is more than enough power through the rest of the album. The back end of ‘Hurt The Ones You Love’ providing some delightful contrasts between guitars and violins, bringing the juxtaposition of emotions that the title evokes to life before ‘Elixer of Life’ has echoes of modern rock bands like The Pretty Reckless.
The album begins to wind down in all but drama as tracks like ‘Black Horse’ bring a more progressive approach, guitars taking the lead for the most part and the most intricate solo of the album surfacing to show yet another string to the bow of the band. The closing pair of tracks, ‘Another Life’ and the album’s title track ‘Wingspan’, see some drastic changes as the former returns to the opening track’s slower intro and all of the focus on the vocals before that title track throws everything that’s left at you in the most danceable track on the album.
Whilst this album does move through various styles and energy levels, there is a clear pattern to the album and it is cohesive throughout, despite the chaos. Wingspan is a hidden gem that appears as if from nowhere.