‘Compelling singer and storyteller’ - Dominion Post
New Zealand singer, Hannah Howes’ is best known for her ‘ compelling’ voice resonating with ‘sumptuous soul‘, and has been compared to ‘Catpower with shades of Feist’. Tagged a ‘Troubadour’ and a ‘Genius’ for her ability to pen evocative lyrics brimming with poetry and philosophy and to introduce an incredible ensemble of musicians, her latest album ‘Candy’ was reviewed as ‘anything but disposable sugary pop, rather a sweet mellow and intelligent offering’. An offering which has found its way into an Australian short film, a New Zealand documentary and to the live festival and boutique music scene in her home country, Japan and now South East Asia and Europe. Hannah’s music bridges political, folk, reggae and soul genres with ease and her primary accompanist Ben Lemi adds complexity to her songs. While their music has the ability to inspire and sooth, their live performance is ‘captivating’ and should not be missed.
‘She has been labelled a ‘sleepy lioness’ not only for her stage presence but also her clearly articulated philosophies and dreamy lyrics’ - Critic Magazine
Howes’ has toured New Zealand over a dozen times, performing up to twenty dates at a time. She has billed at most major New Zealand festivals including Soundsplash, Parihaka International Peace Festival, Riverside Festival, Rippon, Kaikoura Roots Festival and many more. In 2004 she was scouted as an ‘alternative diva’ for BMG NZ but the recording was never made and a rewarding independent career forged instead. In five years Hannah has produced three albums, distributed in New Zealand by Rhythmethod Ltd. In 2009 Hannah played a series of shows in Japan, securing distribution and a record deal. She returned in May 2011 to tour and to record an eight track album with ‘Apple Paint Factory’ in Tokyo, due for Japanese release later this year.
‘Intelligent, ambitious, unpretentious… Howes speaks to the heart, brain, soul’ - Dunedin Fringe
Beginning her musical career in 2004 Hannahs early achievements were founded in Dunedin’s reggae- dub scene and she wrote a number of electronic tracks with ‘Ecophonik’. Their track ‘Secret’ soared to top ten status on NZ independent radio charts, along with her first album ‘Patchwork Quilt’ and subsequent album ‘Live at Bodega’ which gained her the reputation as ‘the inventor of folk-dub’. Recorded in 2004 ‘Patchwork Quilt’ was co-produced by Zuvuya’s Matt Eddy giving it a foothold in roots and dub. Additional instrumentation and engineering was completed by Warren Maxwell and the album was mastered by Mike Gibson. ’Live at Bodega’ captures an improvised live show in Wellington, combining the talents of Yair Katz, Francesca Mountfort (who Hannah met the same day while busking) and Aidan Mills’ engineering. The album was mastered by Mike Gibson.
‘Sumptuous soul and multi-layered to the beat back-up’ - Groove Guide
In 2006 Hannah Howes moved to Wellington- New Zealands premier hub of roots, jazz and soul music and has since recorded and performed with some of New Zealands most respected artists from the country, political, reggae, folk and world music scenes. She has toured with Ariana Tikao, Dayna Sanerivi, Mamaku Project, Cornerstone Roots and others. In 2009 she produced and recorded, ‘Candy’, her third album, at The Surgery with award winning engineer, Lee Prebble. Artists on the album include Ben Wood, Myele Manzanza, Peter Hill, King Homeboy, Ariana Tikao, Rio Hemopo, Alan Starrett, John Egenes, Dayna Sanerivi, Maz Hermon, Daisy Howes and Alistair Fraser. ‘Candy’ was mastered by Don Bartley at Benchmark Mastering in Australia and has reached airwaves in Australia, NZ National Radio and Bnet stations and in various pockets throughout the world where radio DJs have chanced upon and embraced her unique quality.
‘Her song ‘Candy’ had the effect of dragging everyone out of my office space into my office wanting to know who it was, and that is a rare thing. Brilliant… She’s Genius.’ - Radio NZ National
Howes’ first ‘partial’ world tour began in May 2011. In May she wowed audiences in Japan’s elusive underground music scene, brought down the house as a soloist between rock acts in Malaysia and tested her political songs on pop-cover focussed Singapore. In July Hannah Howes was joined by multi-instrumentalist Ben Lemi for the European leg of the tour with back to back dates in London, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France and the Channel Islands, offering lucky audience members a tantalising taste of deep New Zealand. From September to November Hannah performed in Spain, Basque Country, Portugal and began writing towards a new body of work.
