Hannah Frances – Nested in Tangles

Hannah Frances explores complex themes on her sixth LP, whether it’s intrusive memories that linger, adjusting to the absence of someone, or becoming stronger through hurt. Equally cryptic and direct in her approach, the Vermont-based singer-songwriter teeters between both, nestled in the cabin where she wrote the album as new insights emerged. “I let it live in the space between/What’s gone and what's given,” she reflects in “The Space Between,” embracing acceptance and finding peace amid uncertainty. Replete with meaning, her words—coming to the fore on the album’s centrepiece—become a mantra she follows to sail through the challenges.

In Nested in Tangles, as the title suggests, Frances offers a sense of spiritual grounding within its intricate beauty. Wrapped in richly textured arrangements, the songs here blend jazz influences with expansive, rainy-day folk. She attempts to stay the course in the winding “Life’s Work,” featuring Daniel Rossen of venerable indie rockers Grizzly Bear, steering the ship with fierce fingerpicking as a splash of trumpets, springs, and percussion channel her state of continual change: “Nowhere and everywhere, like edges of water/I reach each lesson and find my way through the endings.” Through steady ebbs and flows, Frances, switching from haunting lows to soaring highs akin to the similarly experimental Tim Buckley, draws out unfettered vocal expression over subdued cosmic Americana in “Steady in the Hand”: “The morning breaks me open/hoping to know where you are from here.” Sequenced before and after freeform instrumentals, “Beholden to” and “A Body, A Map,” both tracks allow enough breathing room between the songs to really take them in.

Whereas her breakthrough LP, Keeper of the Shepherd, contended with heavy emotions through similarly ornate songwriting, Frances now articulates these feelings through the innate healing that nature provides. She adapts her poetic musings through pastoral imagery like roots, fields, fog, and smoke, using them sparingly yet powerfully—maintaining equanimity as she tries to live in the moment. While Nestled in Tangles requires utmost attention to recognize their impact as a whole, it mainly inspires one to absorb its cleansing qualities if you look closely enough.

Nested in Tangles is out now via Fire Talk.