Hanna - On the Basis of Deference EP

August 3, 2018 - Shall Not Fade

We need to talk. It’s about Hanna (Warren Harris). He’s got a lot of moaning noises and it’s great. He’s taken Bjork’s voice. Also great. His EP On The Basis of Deference has that certain “shhh, sleep your ass off baby" quality. What the French lazily refer to as “je ne sais pa, aller dormir,” Harris has transformed into a series of gently layered musical “yes’s.” And what is meant by that is highly affirmative. The EP struts up to poignancy only to stop there and party, basking in spiritual jubilance and waving at listeners from whatever distance they may care to approach the divine. Harris in his early fifties remains a troubadour among producers.

Track one, ‘In the Morning,’ sets the mood with revelry. The God-fearing tennis coach, Harris, has made of his first track a morning stretch—an intricate relationship with being awake and having a body at the same time, which though common for most of us, is still a rare experience. This could easily be a song about his forehand or service in which Bjork wails “take my life,” and an anonymous voice moans “ah-ah.” ‘In the Morning’ has the muffled bedroom quality that lends itself to pillow-headed moods. A get-up-or-don’t track. Harris makes the high-hat work for him, an instrument known to subjugate many producers, imbuing his track with a faint shuffle.

‘Psalms’ follows up with minimalist lounge. The title tempts to be unpacked. But the more I listen the more I think I’m not intended to dive into this. Not only that, but what I need and what is present is absolutely the point. This may be Harris’s first DJ-considerate song. The artist is notorious among his club bumping fans for not giving enough ellipses on either side of his tracks for DJs to mix him in smoothly. Psalms, a word steeped in biblical discourse, has nothing concrete to latch onto, letting the listeners ascribe what they will. Through slatted vibraphone and organ unctions and tape-fuzzed percussion, Harris offers enough repetition for DJs to utilize, while incorporating enough movement to captivate a reclining listener. Halfway through, the track takes a decidedly dancy turn. Something something “Easing up, dreaming up….” I wish I knew what else. He’s made a pretty track. Try as I might to put into words the spirituality I detect and am inclined to impose on everything I listen to in an attempt to add greater meaning to the world around me, I keep coming up short. ’Psalms’ gets its elegance from its arrangement and simplicity. It’s a smartly constructed track that has all the confidence of a tennis coach who produces on the side once a year or so. 

The third track, ‘Perhaps,’ is more of the delicately constructed house. If you like the first riff you’ll like the rest of the five plus minute track. A howling synth adds breeze to what is otherwise a long running percussion and piano loop. The track does well to hone in on a category that I’ve come to think of as emotional still-life. Much like Stephany Meyers’s approach to her Twilight series, these songs are nearly so unassuming and pleasantly vacant that a listener might well be able to experience a sort of self-directed sympathy with the EP as a conduit. In short, though I wish for some more depth, it’s a successful body of work. 

The final track, whether it be to fill space or to simply shout out Earl Jeffers, is ‘Perhaps’ remixed by Earl Jeffers. It has little business being a remix in my mind. To split hairs, Jeffers version has a little more syncopation and aligns itself as an electronic samba rhythmically. But there is little signature in the remix. Again though, it’s an ear-pleaser. And while there is no journey to be had, there is much repose. If nothing else, a person is incited to dig even if to find nothing; the digging is important. The EP is the soil. As long as you work with it, you are facilitating growth. If the yield does not match the effort, remember the effort is yield in itself. ⛰️