The Voice

posted in: Artist Features

Most families keep a bowl of fruit on the dining table. Hannah Acfield’s kept one full of maracas, tin whistles, clap sticks, and harmonicas, which helps explain how the Melbourne artist ended up with a guitar in her arms years later. Acfield’s folk songs cover the stuff of ordinary life”the beginning of a new relationship, the end of a long one, and the little traumas that make us who we are. On the sublime This One Knows, the singer recalls the first blush of love with an acoustic guitar and warm, lilting vocals that show off her antipodean cadence. But don’t believe us”Gotye himself says that Acfield’s voice engages you instantly. This One Knows is summery melody steeped in nostalgia that’s best played while driving with the windows down. But not all memories are as warm. On My Tomorrow Acfield recounts a violent mugging, and produces a defiant folk rocker in the process. Tragedy and tambourines are strange bedfellows, but under Acfield’s artful guidance, everything’s in its right place.