Hannah Grace could soon be ruling the music world with beauty in her music. 

Starting off as one of Gabrielle Aplin’s backing singers was a good way into the music industry for Hannah Grace, whose new album comes six years after her debut EP and is also released in the same week as her previous mentor’s own duet, Miss You 2, with Nina Nesbitt. Having already received plaudits from pop royalty, with Lady Gaga dubbing her a ‘superstar’, which as references go is a pretty glowing report to her talents, this release with it’s honesty and quality will leave you wanting much much more from the Welsh singer. 

Wales is famous for producing some of the world’s best singers and this Bridgend girl won’t disappoint. The production on ‘When I Ruled the World’ is laid bare, showcasing a voice as pure as the great Eva Cassidy, with some of the vocal dexterity of Joni Mitchell and even some vintage of Cerys Matthews. Don’t be confused, as I was with the title, the phrase refers back to the best times of first being in love, with heartfelt lines like ‘kiss me like the first time’. It reminds you of the complete bliss you have in that phase of a relationship, when you genuinely feel that you could rule the world. But the song has a feeling of loss, a sense that those days are fading and that there is a real desire to bring them back and harness the power of love. The maturity of songwriting and delivery in this song has a wonderfully refreshing tone. 

It is not often that songs are called timeless and the sentiment is genuine, but this definitely comes very close to that category. It has a wonderful structure, it is simple and at no point does overproduction interfere with the beauty of the lyrics or the innocence of the music itself. But what makes it really stand out is the sensitive yet haunting vocal that shows wonderful control, sincerity and above all accuracy to deliver a truly outstanding song to take us into the new decade. 

 Singer-songwriter      Pop