Reflections (Hannah Diamond Album)

''Reflections'' is the debut studio album by British singer and visual artist Hannah Diamond. It was released on 22 November 2019 via PC Music.

Background and release

Reflections initially was intended to be released as an EP in late 2016 with its lead single being "Fade Away", which was released on 7 October 2016. Following the announcement of the EP, Diamond released "Make Believe" on 23 December 2016. She continued to hint at new music throughout 2017 and 2018, telling fans via social media that new music would be imminent.

A mix titled ''Soon I Won't See You at All'' was released on 13 December 2017, produced entirely by A.G. Cook and featured three songs which would also be featured on ''Reflections''. The three tracks were "Never Again", "Concrete Angel" (a cover of a song by Gareth Emery) and "The Ending".

"True" was released as the official lead single from the album on 16 November 2018. It was released alongside a lyric video featuring a typeface Diamond made herself. The track received attention for its more emotional sound; regarded by Matt Moen of Paper Magazine as "weaving sentimentality and emotion through a landscape of digital disconnect and jaded apathy". In press releases, it was stated that ''Reflections'' would be released in early 2019, however this did not come to fruition.

"Invisible" was released as the album's second single on 30 October 2019, alongside a music video directed by Daniel Swan & Hannah Diamond. On the same day, it was announced that ''Reflections'' would be released on 22 November 2019, and the cover art for the album was also revealed. On the following day, her first headlining tour "The Invisible Tour" was announced in support of the album. It began on 4 December 2019.

"Love Goes On" was released as the album's third single on 13 November 2019, alongside a music video directed by Vasilisa Forbes.

The tracklist of ''Reflections'' was revealed via Diamond's social media on 21 November 2019.

Vinyl versions of the album were announced in November 2019 for later release, and was later announced in January 2020 that they were up for pre-order and would be released in sometime in 2020. On 22 April 2020, Diamond released an EP of remixes of songs from the album.

Composition

''Reflections'' is a pop, trance, and bubblegum pop record, with elements of breakcore, happy hardcore, Eurodance, synthwave, electro house, and techno. The album explores themes of heartbreak and human emotions, in contrast to the robotic aesthetic crafted by Diamond early on in her career. It was described by one critic as a "breakup album". The album's sound has been compared to the works of Charli XCX, Sarah Bonito, Caroline Polachek, Imogen Heap, and Porter Robinson.

The Invisible Tour (2019–2020)

The Invisible Tour is the first headlining tour by Hannah Diamond in support of her debut album Reflections. On 31 October 2019, She announced second show in London, followed by the one in Paris and Berlin the following day. Due to high demand, she added the first London show on 4 November. On 13 November, she announced that the opening act for the London shows will be Namasenda, and on 9 December that the opening acts for Paris and Berlin were Planet 1999 and Mechatok. On 28 November, she announced the second leg of her tour. All shows for the first leg were sold out. During January 2020, she announced that she would appear at Journey Fest in Copenhagen, Melt Festival in Ferropolis and Primavera Sound Barcelona. On 6 February 2020, the opening acts for the second leg were announced and her Glasgow show sold out on the same day. On 26 February, she revealed that the second leg had sold out. On 30 March 2020, Diamond put an announcement on her website that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she has had to cancel some upcoming performances and festival appearances.

The tour began in London on 4 December 2019, and finished in London on 13 March 2020. The tour visited five countries in Europe and contained 11 shows.

Critical reception

''Reflections'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'. Katherine St. Asaph of ''Pitchfork'' criticized Diamond's vocals and songwriting as "affectless" and the album's sound as being behind the times in comparison to the more forward thinking music of her peers at PC Music. However, St. Asaph did praise the cover of "Concrete Angel" as "exhilarating" and saying "more happens in these four minutes than the rest of the album combined". In contrast, Hannah Mylrea of ''NME'' called Diamond's lyrics "brilliantly straightforward" and commended A. G. Cook's production, though criticized the album's slower songs like the title track. Valarie Magan of ''Clash'' called "Love Goes On" "an outstanding track, the depth of its rich, almost robotic sonic landscape standing in sharp contrast to what are, at their core, very human, vulnerable lyrics."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Hannah Amond and Alexander Guy Cook, except where noted. All tracks are produced by A. G. Cook, except where noted. Credits adapted from Tidal.

Release history

References

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2019 debut albums
Albums produced by A. G. Cook
Bubblegum pop albums
Pop albums by British artists
Trance albums
PC Music albums