Hannah Wicklund - Live at the Troubadour
“All you ever wanted was someone to hold, not just handle you”.
From under the bright lights of the iconic Troubadour in Los Angeles, South Carolina singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and visual artist Hannah Wicklund brings us her first live album. The fifteen-track performance brings together songs from two albums - 2018’s Hannah Wicklund and the Steppin Stones, and her most recent record, 2024’s The Prize.
The first thing that stands out about this album is the structure - it’s ordered in a very dynamic way, keeping the audience engaged throughout. It starts with three high-energy, soaring rock tracks; “Lost Love” feels like something of a transition, still containing upbeat parts but with softer instrumentation in the first half. Three softer songs follow, giving the audience a breather and resetting the focus, before we go back into more energetic tracks, starting with one of the highlights of the record, “Can’t Get Enough”.
However, it all feels as though it’s building towards the centerpiece of the set, “Mama Said” - an eight-and-a-half-minute track, which features several hypnotizing instrumental passages. This song is the most impressive showcase of the top-notch instrumentation present throughout the record - particularly when it comes to the guitars. The instrumental work all throughout the album is very tight and clean, and at times very impressive technically; certain segments inspire genuine awe.
That’s not to take away anything from Hannah Wicklund herself - she absolutely carries the album with her presence. Of course, this applies primarily to her amazing vocals, which have some real range and power to them, particularly on tracks like the aforementioned “Can’t Get Enough”, “Hide and Seek” and “Sun to Sun”. However, her crowd interactions are also great - she takes the time to tell several personal stories from her life, which both set the tone or the scene for certain tracks, and help the audience to connect with Hannah as a human being. The nature of the stories more than justifies the fact that some of them take a little longer to tell, and they don’t feel like they’re dragging at any point. Her songwriting, like her vocals, has great range, being gentle and emotional at times, and raw and confessional at others.
Also, for a live album, the production is very good - the instrumental tones are crisp and clear, the bass is present and rich, and the overall mix is very balanced. The vocals also don’t dominate the soundscape, settling among the instruments in just the right way to have the focus on them, but not drown out everything else.
In conclusion, on Live at the Troubadour, Hannah Wicklund demonstrates all the best of her capabilities, vocally and musically as well as from a songwriting point of view. It’s a great collection of highlights from her discography, performed excellently, and it serves as a great advertisement for her music for those who may not have heard any of it until now.
8.8/10