Hannah Georgas – For Evelyn – Album Review

By Andrew Horan

www.hannahgeorgas.com

They say that major life events often provide artists with the best material.

In the case of Vancouver’s Hannah Georgas, the death of her grandmother, the album’s namesake, was the powerful catalyst for her third album. For Evelyn also marks a stylistic departure for Georgas as well with much of the album being electronic based as opposed to the indie pop of her previous releases.

It serves the music well. A sense of aching loss fills her vocals on the album’s first single, ‘Don’t Go’. When she sings “If you take her, I swear I’m going to come to” it’s a feeling that anyone who has lost a loved one knows only too well.

The horn-based lead-off ‘Rideback’ sets the mood for the rest of the album with its slow beat. Tracks like the dark and brooding ‘Evelyn’ provide some of the best examples of the new direction that Georgas has taken her music in. Even though the album’s subject matter is sombre, she still manages to turn in a dance floor-friendly number with ‘Waste’.

Less anyone think that For Evelyn is completely about Georgas dealing with her grandmother’s passing, she does turn in a few upbeat tracks, particularly on the dance-pop of ‘Crazy Shit’.

But, it’s the track that combine electronics with traditional instruments such as a piano that provide the album with its highlights, ‘Walls’ is a shining example of this.

For Evelyn wraps up with the atmospheric ‘City’. Georgas’ emotionally-charged vocals show that she’s still wrestling with her grandmother’s passing but there’s also a sense of acceptance to the track.

Albums that deal with something like the loss of a loved one can be hit or miss affairs. Luckily, Georgas handles the material with heartfelt sincerity; turning in a truly beautiful collection of songs that will, again, speak to anyone who has lost a family member they were close to.