Hannah Jadagu lifts a weight with the feathery indie-pop of “Say It Now”

At 20 years old, Hannah Jadagu has not only crafted the vision of her own niche musical styling, an expansive yet intricately thoughtful brand of indie-pop, but also developed the means to create it. Recording her early music with access to a few pieces of tech like GarageBand and a microphone, as well as her guitar, her keen interest in production has transformed into a sound that listeners can feel her confidence radiating from. Writing, arranging, and co-producing her latest single "Say It Now" (alongside Max Robert Baby), Hannah once more has turned to her musical toolkit to construct another successfully lustrous track.

Following the release of her 2021 EP What Is Going On?, "Say It Now" notably recreates the delicate chord struck by Hannah’s existing discography. Although more understated than in the previous single "All My Time is Wasted", with its punchy oscillation between moments of calm and energy as breakneck as a faucet switching on and off, "Say It Now" remains a triumphantly dreamlike stitching together of smooth R&B tones and spacious indie instrumentation, with pop elements bleeding through the seams. Each line of the track escapes into the next, like meat falling away from the bone.

The single’s feathery production is the perfect embodiment of its message, with Hannah taking time and space to reflect on past relationships and boldly ask herself the more difficult questions we often shy away from facing. She explains, “"Say It Now" is my sort of inner reflection on where things have gone wrong in my past interactions and relationships with other people. Sonically and lyrically, I feel as though this song signifies me venturing into a new world that is even more intense and vulnerable.”

Whilst shedding this poised outer layer and daring to dig deep does open her up to more vulnerability and hurt, "Say It Now" importantly also lifts a weight from Hannah’s shoulders. Opening the track by singing “I’ve been trying to find the line, is it best if I don’t try?” showcases her initial uncertainty, perhaps in both a past conversation with a partner but also in the desire to reflect altogether. In the chorus, however, Hannah finds her confidence: “If you’ve been waiting to say it… say it now.”

Originally hailing from Mesquite, Texas, Hannah’s current residency in the concrete labyrinthine of New York has perhaps encouraged her to become bolder in her introspection, knowing that the only way to grow from something is to look at it head-on. It is, however, Paris that lays the stage for the single’s accompanying music video (directed by Jade De Brito).

“Making this video was so special because I got to make it during my first visit to Paris.” Hannah continues, “We shot it in about 2 days, showcasing a sort of “day in the life” where I do studio work and get to go around the city. It’s a nice contrast to the lyrical content, because there’s truly no time to be sad in Paris.” Whilst there may be no time to be sad in Paris, Hannah’s discography decidedly creates space for reflections to be made and emotions to be lived in, giving listeners pause to similarly shed that which is dragging them down.