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Annie Hart Photo credit Sebastian Kim Art Direction Natalia Read Harber

Annie Hart announces new solo LP with opening track "Wilderness Hill"

05 November 2019, 16:22 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

Annie Hart has announced her second solo album A Softer Offering, alongside unveiling the lead single "Wilderness Hill".

Hart's new single is her first since her 2017 debut solo LP Impossible Accomplice.

Speaking about the new release, the former Au Revoir Simone member says, "I wrote the song when I was doing Stephen Bass' PRAH Foundation in Margate last January. I was staying alone in a great big Victorian row house, recording alone in a studio, and spending my breaks wandering about going from the studio up to Cliff’s for a coffee or Peter’s near the sea for fish and chips. Everything was grey and filled with that particular brand of English winter cold, the damp chill that really sinks into your bones. I wrote the bass guitar and piano in the day, and on my afternoon walk to think of lyrics, I noticed the street sign for Wilderness Hill and was overcome with this feeling of solitude and missing love across the Atlantic."

She adds, "That’s how I started thinking of the story behind the song that I echoed in the video. It’s about being in one place in one time zone and not being able to communicate with someone in another one far away. The thoughts of them, and the geographical or emotional distance that lies between you, rattle around inside you like an unshakable thirst."

Expanding on her sophomore solo LP, Hart says, "I wanted to give listeners that chance to breathe, to relax. A soundtrack for painting or lying in the grass. I thought a lot about what music I play for myself when I want to make a moment feel complete. There’s just something different when you play soft music during these ordinary spaces in life, and I wanted to make a soundtrack for that. Sounds that undulate in minimal movement, that you can pay very close attention to, or leave space around if you need to have your own thoughts. I hope this record helps stretch those unfortunately rare times in our lives when we have moments to be peaceful."

The new album includes vocal contributions by Madeline Kenney. It was partly mixed by Jorge Elbrect (Sky Ferreira, Japanese Breakfast, Ariel Pink) and Justin Pizzoferrato (Sebadoh, Pixies, J Mascis), and mastered by April Golden (Sharon Jones, Antibalas).

Tracklist:

  1. Wilderness Hill
  2. Longing To Care Less
  3. Wandering Free
  4. Don’t Breathe For Me
  5. Stillness
  6. Clean Floors
  7. Phoenicia No Coffee
  8. Embrace The New Age
  9. The Paper Pull
"Wilderness Hill" is out now. Annie Hart's A Softer Offering album is released 13 December, and is available to pre-order now.
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