“I think about it all the time: is love loud or is it quiet? Will I know it when it comes around? Will I hear it or even recognize the sound?” Hannah Grace’s latest single “How True Is Your Love” opens with a series of questions many listeners may have contemplated but not fully articulated. The track, off the Welsh singer-songwriter’s upcoming debut album, shows off Grace’s vocal range and soulfulness, the refrain reminiscent of a church hymn.
The song is about “how hard it is to fall back in love after being hurt but not holding back, throwing yourself into the pain and joy all at once,” Grace explains. “It is about having the strength not to lose all of your trust in love for the future.” The sound is typical of her music: emotive and slightly theatrical but also poppy and catchy.
The rest of the album, which comes out later this year, deals in various ways with the love, heartbreak, worry, happiness, and other emotions Grace has experienced over the past two years. Other singles from the album include “Wasted Love,” where Grace reassures her past self that no love is wasted, and “Blue,” a song about getting yourself out of an emotional slump.
“Writing the songs worked as remedies for me at the time; I just poured all of my experiences and my stories into the lyrics and melodies,” Grace says. “It’s happy and sad, and I’m hoping it can comfort people and uplift people as they go through life’s ups and downs, too.”
Grace has already released two EPs — 2014’s Meant to Be Kind and 2016’s Mustang — and is known for her covers of songs like Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You,” Nelly Furtado’s “I’m Like a Bird,” and Etta James’s “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Her all-time favorite cover to perform, though, is Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which she considers among the best songs of all time. “Aretha Franklin does a version of it that is just unbelievable — I’ve probably listened to it hundreds of times,” she says.
Grace’s performances have been notable not just for her music but also for her fun, bright style. She recently performed with live string accompaniment at Richard Quinn’s Show at London Fashion Week, for which he made her a custom dress. Another highlight of her career was playing with Barbra Streisand in London’s Hyde Park last year and touring with a number of big artists, including Hozier and Gabrielle Aplin, who is a good friend of hers.
Later in the year, she’s scheduled to headline several shows, including one in London and one in her hometown of Cardiff, Wales. In the meantime, she’s hard at work on her album. “It’s been a long time coming, and I’m in the final stages of putting it all together — it’s very exciting,” she says. “But I’m always writing more songs… just music, music, music.”
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