Hannah Schneider releases cinematic electro single ‘Mirror Sphere’
With a minimalist and sensitive tone, Hannah Schneider’s new single Mirror Sphere tells a monumental story about the beginning of life. Mirror Sphere returns to the amoeba’s path from sea to land in an organic, ambient pop song. The single is the second single from Hannah Schneider’s upcoming album Ocean Letters.
The singer is one half of the celebrated duo AyOwA who have received significant international support from the likes of Huffington Post, The Independent, VICE, The Line of Best Fit, CLASH Magazine and Wonderland Magazine as well as airplay from both BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens as well as BBC Radio 6’s 6mix with Nemone. Independently, Hannah Schneider has been nominated for several music prizes in Denmark, and has performed all over Europe, the UK and the USA. Her spherical voice has appeared on several big Scandinavian TV series, recently in the international nordic TV series Ride Upon the Storm.
Hannah Schneider released the first single from her upcoming album in November ’21. “We Will Be The Only Sound In The World” is told from the perspective of a conch shell, about the grains of sand and waves that have left their mark over time:
“We Will Be The Only Sound In The World opens on an austere,
elegant piano topped by Hannah’s deliciously haunting voice,
crystalline yet ethereal at the same time. It’s one of those mystical
voices with the power of summoning up the past, present,
and future” popoff.us
The mysteries of nature and the oceans have inspired all the new songs, and the story of Mirror Sphere is told from the perspective of the amoebas – life at the beginning of the earth.
“I wrote Mirror Sphere in the middle of the darkest times of the pandemic. It felt like it was a crucial moment in history – almost as if it was the end of it all. I came to think of the earth’s long history, and that everything happens over billions of years – all the way back from the time the amoebas decided to go ashore, to become animals and later humans. We’re just part of the long haul, and that’s kind of a consolation!”
Hannah Schneider is obsessed with contrasts. The strength of the vulnerable, the acoustic, the organic in encounter with darker electronic elements. For her, as for many, the pandemic time has given room for new reflections on life, but also a change in her sonic expression:
“This time of isolation and complete quiet sent me back to something basic. A nearness and a simplicity. Creatively, for me it meant going back to my classical roots, and to where the music started for me – at the piano. Mirror Sphere mixes the acoustic sound of my piano and guitar with electronic and spherical elements into an ambient pop song. The production has been turned down, the vocals are done in one take, and these new songs reflect a new process in many ways.”
Mirror Sphere, like the album’s other songs, has been created in collaboration with Danish producer Nicolai Kornerup, with whom she also creates music in AyOwA.
There’s an airy, almost romantic, quality to the track; Schneider’s vocals are woozily seductive while synths sparkle over sparse, loose beats that draw from both R&B and ’80s electro.”
The Line Of Best Fit
“Soaring synths and stunning vocals.”
Wonderland Magazine
Huffington Post [On AyOwA] “Releasing a flurry of singles, the artful pairing have established a stellar reputation, with their Impressionistic take on pop’s outer limits proving to be helplessly beguiling.”
CLASH Magazine
