Atwood Magazine catches up with Catskills singer/songwriter Hannah Cohen to discuss her devastatingly beautiful new single “Golden Chain,” life beyond chaos, and the quiet rhythms of rural life.
Stream: “Golden Chain” – Hannah Cohen
Hannah Cohen is beautiful.
She sits across from me in a sheer, neon yellow dress, her bright eyes limned by a thick, graphic eyeliner. As we talk, her chin rests on her hand, eyes widening before she speaks and glimmering with an Old Hollywood glamour.
Moments before, Cohen graced the stage at BottleRock Napa Valley. She stood with her shoulders squared against the long neck of her guitar. Eyes cast toward the back of the crowd, she begins with her latest single, “Golden Chain.” Barely above a whisper, Cohen sings, “I want to matter more to you than those internet girls you do, then the late night liquor and the booze and the endless chasing of your youth.”
The entire song is made up of less than ten phrases. The sentences rise and fall like a wave, pushing and pulling with an almost imperceptible rhythm. Following in the footsteps of Linda Perhacs and Judee Sill, Cohen delivers devastation with an unadorned vocal and a light melody. Played like a puppet on a string, she has reached the end of her tether.
I want to matter more to you
Than those internet girls you do
Than the late night liquor and the booze
And the endless chasing of your youth
Some girls you’d rather devastate
Than tell the whole truth
And I kept quiet as long as I could
I said the words I thought I should
The illusion of what
I thought we had was good
And you threw it all away
It is clear that many things have changed for Cohen. For years, her time was divided between her own music and her recording studio, Flying Cloud. Now, a new record is taking shape and long pauses are a thing of the past. However, Cohen remains surrounded by her friends and her forest. The support of loved ones gives her courage; in fact, “Golden Chain” would be nowhere without them.
Hannah Cohen recently spoke to Atwood Magazine about stepping out from the back-burner, escaping the noise, and the community that has made it all possible.
Come on, baby, face the hurt
You made your bed, now do the work
Oh, you’re just gonna move across the country
Like some coward
And punish me ’cause your pain
has nowhere else to go
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:: stream/purchase Golden Chain here ::
:: connect with Hannah Cohen here ::
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Stream: “Golden Chain” – Hannah Cohen
A CONVERSATION WITH HANNAH COHEN
Atwood Magazine: You grew up around music, but found your way to it in your late teens. Can you talk a bit about your trajectory?
Hannah Cohen: It’s funny, as a kid, I was a super jock. I was on a traveling soccer league that took up all my time. I was taking guitar lessons by the time I was 15, but soccer was the real thing. I took piano lessons, I played clarinet and guitar. I was ADD about it. I found writing when I was 19.
Did you know you had a voice?
Hannah Cohen: I would sing along to jazz records, like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. I knew that I liked to sing, but I didn’t realize it was something I could do until I was 19. My ex was a musician and I started singing harmony with him. I had a supportive musical community even then, which was encouraging.
How did you realize you had something to say?
Hannah Cohen: I am always writing about what’s going on with me. I don’t know, I am still figuring out what I want to say.
Speaking of, I loved your performance of the new single, “Golden Chain.” That song is an exorcism of sorts.
Hannah Cohen: It was capturing what I was going through at the moment. It was actually a demo, so I went with “first thought, best thought.” It was one take into a four-track. I worked with Keenan O’Meara and Shawn Mullins, both of whom are incredible.
Did you write the song recently?
Hannah Cohen: Yeah, I wrote it in February. I wanted to put it on SoundCloud, but my label wanted me to release it on all platforms. I’m in between records, and I am probably going to keep releasing things as I go.
I wanna matter more to you
Than devastation that you choose
I wanna matter more to you
Than the late night liquor and the booze
I wanna matter more to you
Than those internet girls you do, you do
There has been a trend of taking more time between records.
Hannah Cohen: That trend is over. It’s not going to be six years. I was busy with life and running a recording studio. Things have changed. I want to put something out next year.
Why has that pace changed?
Hannah Cohen: Things in my life have drastically changed. At the time, I was running a recording studio, so my stuff was put on the back-burner. I am not on the back-burner anymore, and I’m moving forward with myself.
During Earthstar Mountain, you talked extensively about your wonderful life in the Catskills. I envy your life: The community, the snacks, the recording studio.
Hannah Cohen: All you need is community, food, nature, music.
How did it feel to live in a literal oasis?
Hannah Cohen: It is an oasis! I’m still there. I lived in New York City for almost fifteen years. There’s a certain thing when you live in the city that you are desensitized to the chaos and the unrest. You’re getting shoulder-checked every day by people. You don’t have to live that way.
And maybe we aren’t meant to live that way.
Hannah Cohen: The city is covered in pavement. The trees can’t breathe. The city can’t handle the heat. But there is also so much in that culture. I got all that out: I did the drugs, I went to the parties, I stayed out all night until the garbage trucks came. I don’t need the sour garbage smell in the summer anymore. Once I got used to the woods and having that kind of space, it changed the way I perceive time, friendship, and how I want to live my life. I am lucky to live up there. Maybe one day I will be fortunate enough to have another place in the city, too. I think the people who can live in NYC are the ones who make a real effort to leave it and go into nature.
I was just in the city. One thing I didn’t notice the last time I was there was the amount of drinking.
Hannah Cohen: Everyone’s drinking because they hate their apartment because it’s a piece of shit that they’re paying $5,000 for. No one wants to be in their house. If you can be in your house, you are in a different tax bracket. There is so much woven into the culture of being out.
I need my home and my animals.
Hannah Cohen: I need my dog, I miss her so much.
How did moving upstate change the way you perceive music?
Hannah Cohen: I have the space to be myself in a different way. I am less disturbed by the outside world when I write, which helps me access different parts of myself. Observing the rot and repeat of seasons enters my everyday process. I find similarities between nature and relationships.
Have you read Big Sur by Jack Kerouac?
Hannah Cohen: No, but I should!
The main character is based on Kerouac. The book is about him going through alcohol withdrawal and descending into madness on the Coast. “Rot and repeat” reminded me of that.
Hannah Cohen: It’s better than going to a psych ward. There is no support in this country for people with mental health issues. If someone needs help, they are just overmedicated. It’s really hard for those who are suffering from conditions. It takes them months to get the right cocktail.
We overmedicate and avoid addressing the culture.
Hannah Cohen: The phone shit is crazy, it’s like a drug. I’m on it all the time. As things get crazier, I think we need to dive deeper into community and into nature.
You have said that you never feel alone musically.
Hannah Cohen: I write all my songs on my own, but I will send them to my friends. I cherish my friends who are honest and tell me where the song is. That’s what happened with “Golden Chain.” I sent this to a couple of my friends who said, “This is devastating.” It broke me apart to have to write that song. The encouragement of my friends gave me the bravery I needed to put out a song like that.
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:: stream/purchase Golden Chain here ::
:: connect with Hannah Cohen here ::
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Stream: “Golden Chain” – Hannah Cohen
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