Today, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her debut album, worldwide through Sub Pop. The full-length features 12 tracks, including “Say It Now,” “What You Did,” “Warning Sign,” “Admit It,” and “Lose,” which Stereogum calls “sharp and insistent.” Aperture was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering.
Jon Pareles of The New York Times says of the album, “She sings about being scared to get serious in the folk-to-grunge ‘Lose’; about trying to get someone to forget an ex in the lurching, psychedelia-tinged ‘Six Months’; and about trying to figure out where she stands in a relationship in ‘Say It Now,’ which expands from a winsome plaint into a stomping pop chorus…Jadagu has a singular sense of melody. Her phrases hopscotch around, full of angular leaps that also feel easy and conversational. Those melodies turn out to be equally effective whether they’re leaping across distorted guitar chords, suave keyboards or abstract soundscapes (see May 16th feature “Hannah Jadagu Turns Small Moments Into Big Pop Songs”).
Jadagu will celebrate the release of Aperture with a hometown release show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right this Saturday, May 20th. Later this summer, she will also appear at Salt Lake City’s Mind The Gap Festival on August 26th. Jadagu has also announced a 19-date, headlining US tour for the fall of 2023 in support of Aperture, which begins Wednesday, September 6th in Philadelphia, PA at PhilaMOCA and ends Sunday, October 1st in Chicago, IL at Schubas. A current list of dates is below.
Sat. May 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right Sat. Aug. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Mind The Gap Festival Wed. Sep. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA Thu. Sep. 07 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Fri. Sep. 08 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) Sat. Sep. 09 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR Sun. Sep. 10 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Purgatory) Tue. Sep. 12 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs Wed. Sep. 13 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Thu. Sep. 14 - Austin, TX - Ballroom Sat. Sep. 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Sun. Sep. 17 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Voodoo Room Tue. Sep. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo Wed. Sep. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene at Brick & Mortar Thu. Sep. 21 - Sacramento, CA - The Starlet Room Sat. Sep. 23 - Seattle, WA - Barboza Sun. Sep. 24 - Portland, OR - Polaris Mon. Sep. 25 - Boise, ID - El - Korah Shrine Basement Wed. Sep. 27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge Fri. Sep. 29 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck Sun. Oct. 01 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
What people are saying about Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture: “Her debut full-length retains the intimacy of those bedroom recordings while making good on their promise, with cleaner melodies and production texture pulled from the pop, hip-hop and indie music that soundtracked a suburban Texan childhood. Aperture is Jadagu’s coming-of-age mixtape, chronicling bad breakups (scuzzy garage rocker “What You Did”), sibling allyship (the glitchy “Admit It”) and leaving behind a religious upbringing (distorted diary entry “Letter To Myself”); while opener “Explanation*s hazy vocals and synthesized strings is Mazzy Star updated for the TikTok generation.” - UNCUT
“Hannah Jadagu has mastered a new kind of coming-of-age album…The Sub Pop signee’s debut broadens her range beyond its DIY origins, and mirrors the way that change can heighten emotions.” “Next Noise Interview”- NME
“Hannah Jadugu’s sun-kissed, whimsical DIY sound brings something new to the table… Jadugu’s youthful indie-pop soothes like a summer afternoon – a much-needed antidote to those January blues. Last year, she took on her first UK shows, no doubt leaving them hungry for more. Her debut album, due out next spring, should keep them satisfied.” “The 10 New Music Acts To Watch In 2023” - THE INDEPENDENT
“Aperture is a captivatingly atmospheric debut from Hannah Jadagu. As indie, bedroom pop, and shoegaze entwine, her softly powerful vocals guide us as her lyrics span dreamy reverie to longing; love to liminality…Understated but never dreary, on Aperture Jadagu invites us into her inner world with refreshing vulnerability - to feel as she feels, dream as she dreams, and ultimately, to hold hope at the end of it all.” ★★★★ - THE SKINNY
“A hushed, hazy song that maps interpersonal tensions onto musical contrasts: quiet and loud, sustained and rhythmic, dulcet and distorted… ‘Warning Sign’ could have been an easygoing R&B vamp, but Jadagu has other imperatives; the song coos with keyboard chords and airborne harmonies, then crashes or glitches. What she hears goes with what she feels: “I can’t stand to hear your voice when it’s oh so loud/Could you quiet down?” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“The latest single from the 20-year-old indie-pop singer-songwriter Hannah Jadagu is suffused with a dreamy atmosphere, but her lyrics pierce right through the haze: “I know what you did,” she sings, repeatedly, to the object of her disappointment…‘What You Did’ showcases Jadagu’s easy aptitude with lilting melodies and her love of deliciously crunchy texture.” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“‘What You Did’ is crunchy and satisfying, a blast of fuzz accompanying Jadagu insistent chorus of “I know what you did.” - STEREOGUM
“Confident, propulsive and armed with one hell of a groove, ‘Warning Sign’ sounds like the future..” - GUITAR WORLD
“At first, ‘Warning Sign’… sounds sparse and soft, but then it transforms with surprising instrumentation. Abrupt percussion, gentle keys and spatial strings turn the indie-pop song into a textured listen. It’s yet another sublime, melodious track from the Texas-born singer, songwriter, producer and student.” - COOL HUNTING
“Finding a song that encapsulates the anxiety and overstimulation of pushing forward is not an easy feat. Luckily, we have talented singer Hannah Jadagu to express it well. She’s just like you — she can’t see the ‘Warning Sign’ when it matters most. Relatably, on top of her artistry, she’s a college student grinding her way to stardom, showing it takes more than beauty and a bold voice to tackle the music industry. Her latest hit’s honest lyrics and groovy bassline exhibit her undeniable potential.” “Bop Shop” - MTV NEWS
“[‘Say It Now’ is] a lucid slice of indie pop, the hazy guitars wrap themselves around a lyric that refuses to shy away from difficult questions, most notably aimed at its narrator.” - CLASH
“If the emotions are wrought, then Jadagu’s music is a balm: soft yet with enough punch to underscore the feeling at the center of the song.” [“Say It Now”] - THE FADER
“‘Say It Now’ remains a triumphantly dreamlike stitching together of smooth R&B tones and spacious indie instrumentation, with pop elements bleeding through the seams. Each line of the track escapes into the next, like meat falling away from the bone.”- THE LINE OF BEST FIT
This Friday, May 19th, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her debut album, worldwide through Sub Pop. The full-length features 12 tracks, including “Say it Now,” “What You Did,” “Warning Sign,” “Admit it,” and today’s offering, “Lose” (Lyric Video), and was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering.
Jadagu will celebrate the release of Aperture with a hometown release show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right this Saturday, May 20th. Later this summer, she will also appear at Salt Lake City’s Mind The Gap Festival on August 26th. Jadagu has also announced a 19-date, headlining US tour for the fall of 2023 in support of Aperture, which begins Wednesday, September 6th in Philadelphia, PA at PhilaMOCA and ends Sunday, October 1st in Chicago, IL at Schubas. A current list of dates is below.
Sat. May 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right Sat. Aug. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Mind The Gap Festival Wed. Sep. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA Thu. Sep. 07 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Fri. Sep. 08 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) Sat. Sep. 09 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR Sun. Sep. 10 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Purgatory) Tue. Sep. 12 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs Wed. Sep. 13 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Thu. Sep. 14 - Austin, TX - Ballroom Sat. Sep. 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Sun. Sep. 17 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Voodoo Room Tue. Sep. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo Wed. Sep. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene at Brick & Mortar Thu. Sep. 21 - Sacramento, CA - The Starlet Room Sat. Sep. 23 - Seattle, WA - Barboza Sun. Sep. 24 - Portland, OR - Polaris Mon. Sep. 25 - Boise, ID - El - Korah Shrine Basement Wed. Sep. 27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge Fri. Sep. 29 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck Sun. Oct. 01 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
What people are saying about Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture: “Her debut full-length retains the intimacy of those bedroom recordings while making good on their promise, with cleaner melodies and production texture pulled from the pop, hip-hop and indie music that soundtracked a suburban Texan childhood. Aperture is Jadagu’s coming-of-age mixtape, chronicling bad breakups (scuzzy garage rocker “What You Did”), sibling allyship (the glitchy “Admit It”) and leaving behind a religious upbringing (distorted diary entry “Letter To Myself”); while opener “Explanation*s hazy vocals and synthesized strings is Mazzy Star updated for the TikTok generation.” - UNCUT
“Hannah Jadagu has mastered a new kind of coming-of-age album…The Sub Pop signee’s debut broadens her range beyond its DIY origins, and mirrors the way that change can heighten emotions.” “Next Noise Interview”- NME
“Hannah Jadugu’s sun-kissed, whimsical DIY sound brings something new to the table… Jadugu’s youthful indie-pop soothes like a summer afternoon – a much-needed antidote to those January blues. Last year, she took on her first UK shows, no doubt leaving them hungry for more. Her debut album, due out next spring, should keep them satisfied.” “The 10 New Music Acts To Watch In 2023” - THE INDEPENDENT
“Aperture is a captivatingly atmospheric debut from Hannah Jadagu. As indie, bedroom pop, and shoegaze entwine, her softly powerful vocals guide us as her lyrics span dreamy reverie to longing; love to liminality…Understated but never dreary, on Aperture Jadagu invites us into her inner world with refreshing vulnerability - to feel as she feels, dream as she dreams, and ultimately, to hold hope at the end of it all.” ★★★★ - THE SKINNY
“A hushed, hazy song that maps interpersonal tensions onto musical contrasts: quiet and loud, sustained and rhythmic, dulcet and distorted… ‘Warning Sign’ could have been an easygoing R&B vamp, but Jadagu has other imperatives; the song coos with keyboard chords and airborne harmonies, then crashes or glitches. What she hears goes with what she feels: “I can’t stand to hear your voice when it’s oh so loud/Could you quiet down?” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“The latest single from the 20-year-old indie-pop singer-songwriter Hannah Jadagu is suffused with a dreamy atmosphere, but her lyrics pierce right through the haze: “I know what you did,” she sings, repeatedly, to the object of her disappointment…‘What You Did’ showcases Jadagu’s easy aptitude with lilting melodies and her love of deliciously crunchy texture.” “The Playlist” - THE NEW YORK TIMES
“‘What You Did’ is crunchy and satisfying, a blast of fuzz accompanying Jadagu insistent chorus of “I know what you did.” - STEREOGUM
“Confident, propulsive and armed with one hell of a groove, ‘Warning Sign’ sounds like the future..” - GUITAR WORLD
“At first, ‘Warning Sign’… sounds sparse and soft, but then it transforms with surprising instrumentation. Abrupt percussion, gentle keys and spatial strings turn the indie-pop song into a textured listen. It’s yet another sublime, melodious track from the Texas-born singer, songwriter, producer and student.” - COOL HUNTING
“Finding a song that encapsulates the anxiety and overstimulation of pushing forward is not an easy feat. Luckily, we have talented singer Hannah Jadagu to express it well. She’s just like you — she can’t see the ‘Warning Sign’ when it matters most. Relatably, on top of her artistry, she’s a college student grinding her way to stardom, showing it takes more than beauty and a bold voice to tackle the music industry. Her latest hit’s honest lyrics and groovy bassline exhibit her undeniable potential.” “Bop Shop” - MTV NEWS
“[‘Say It Now’ is] a lucid slice of indie pop, the hazy guitars wrap themselves around a lyric that refuses to shy away from difficult questions, most notably aimed at its narrator.” - CLASH
“If the emotions are wrought, then Jadagu’s music is a balm: soft yet with enough punch to underscore the feeling at the center of the song.” [“Say It Now”] - THE FADER
“‘Say It Now’ remains a triumphantly dreamlike stitching together of smooth R&B tones and spacious indie instrumentation, with pop elements bleeding through the seams. Each line of the track escapes into the next, like meat falling away from the bone.”- THE LINE OF BEST FIT
Hannah Jadagu Aperture
Tracklisting: 1. Explanation 2. Say It Now 3. Six Months 4. What You Did 5. Lose 6. Admit It 7. Dreaming 8. Shut Down 9. Warning Sign 10. Scratch The Surface 11. Letter To Myself
On Friday, May 19th, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her first full-length effort on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.
Today, you can watch the official video for a new offering, “Admit It,” an aching new single dedicated to Jadagu’s sister, whose boundless love and impeccable taste has been a constant for Jadagu ever since she was a kid. At home, the siblings were raised on mom’s Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom she credits her love of vocoder), but it was in the sanctity of her sister’s car that Jadagu discovered indie artists who would go on to inspire her work.
Jadagu says, “‘Admit It’ is centered around being there for someone you typically lean on. It’s about the value of a certain strength and support that can come from family. I wanted that same idea to come across in the production of the song, which is inspired by the music I listened to during my childhood.”
Jadagu is also announcing a 19-date, headlining US tour for the fall of 2023 in support of Aperture, which begins Wednesday, September 6th in Philadelphia, PA at PhilaMOCA and ends Sunday, October 1st in Chicago, IL at Schubas. The tour will include stops in DC, Carrboro, Nashville, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Seattle, Portland, Boise, Denver, and Lawrence.
Tickets for these shows go on sale Friday, April 21st at 10 am (local).
The tour will be preceded by Jadagu’s hometown release show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right on Saturday, May 20th, and an appearance at Salt Lake City’s Mind The Gap Festival on Saturday, August 26th. A current list of dates is below.
Sat. May 20 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right Sat. Aug. 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Mind The Gap Festival Wed. Sep. 06 - Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA Thu. Sep. 07 - Washington, DC - Songbyrd Fri. Sep. 08 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) Sat. Sep. 09 - Nashville, TN - DRKMTTR Sun. Sep. 10 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade (Purgatory) Tue. Sep. 12 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall - Upstairs Wed. Sep. 13 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Thu. Sep. 14 - Austin, TX - Ballroom Sat. Sep. 16 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Sun. Sep. 17 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues Voodoo Room Tue. Sep. 19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo Wed. Sep. 20 - San Francisco, CA - Popscene at Brick & Mortar Thu. Sep. 21 - Sacramento, CA - The Starlet Room Sat. Sep. 23 - Seattle, WA - Barboza Sun. Sep. 24 - Portland, OR - Polaris Mon. Sep. 25 - Boise, ID - El Korah Shrine Basement Wed. Sep. 27 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge Fri. Sep. 29 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck Sun. Oct. 01 - Chicago, IL - Schubas
Last month, Jadagu released “Warning Sign,” a standout from Aperture. New York Times called the single “a hushed, hazy song that maps interpersonal tensions onto musical contrasts: quiet and loud, sustained and rhythmic, dulcet and distorted… ‘Warning Sign’ could have been an easygoing R&B vamp, but Jadagu has other imperatives; the song coos with keyboard chords and airborne harmonies, then crashes or glitches. What she hears goes with what she feels: “I can’t stand to hear your voice when it’s oh so loud/Could you quiet down?”
Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture features 12 tracks, including “Lose,” “Say it Now,” “What You Did,” “Warning Sign,” and the aforementioned “Admit it,” was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering. Aperture follows the release of Jadagu’s acclaimed What Is Going On? digital-only EP, and stand-alone single “All My Time Is Wasted,” also available on Sub Pop.
Tracklisting: 1. Explanation 2. Say It Now 3. Six Months 4. What You Did 5. Lose 6. Admit It 7. Dreaming 8. Shut Down 9. Warning Sign 10. Scratch The Surface 11. Letter To Myself 12. Your Thoughts Are Ur Biggest Obstacle
On Friday, May 19th, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her first full-length effort on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop.
On Aperture, Jadagu says, “There’s rock Hannah, there’s hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn’t want any of the songs to sound too alike.” Emblematic of this ethos is the new single “Warning Sign,” which starts out as an acoustic R&B slowburner before a muscular electric guitar enters the mix, and the song morphs into something akin to psychedelic. Jadagu continues, “‘Warning Sign’ was practically the last song Max (co-producer) and I recorded for the album. It almost was just a short interlude, but I was inspired by a melody that my sister sang on the original demo, which led Max and I to be able to piece together the rest of the sounds in the studio.” Watch and listen via the new lyric video here.
Last week, Jadagu appeared at SXSW, and has scheduled a few early shows to support Aperture, including Saturday, March 25th in Boise, Idaho at Treefort Festival, and Saturday, August 26th, in Salt Lake City, Utah at Mind the Gap Festival. A New York City release show and a headlining tour for 2023 will be announced soon.
In February, Jadagu released “What You Did,” the rousing lead single from Aperture, which leverages crushing accusations against the song’s unnamed subject. Screaming static and a crunchy guitar part softens under Jadagu’s calm delivery. The song earned praise for Jadagu from the likes of The New York Times, who says, “[“What You Did”] is suffused with a dreamy atmosphere, but her lyrics pierce right through the haze: “I know what you did,” she sings, repeatedly, to the object of her disappointment…[it] showcases Jadagu’s easy aptitude with lilting melodies and her love of deliciously crunchy texture.” Meanwhile, Stereogum offered this, “[“What You Did”] is crunchy and satisfying, a blast of fuzz.”
Jadagu’s Aperture features 12 tracks, including “Lose,” “Admit It,” “Say it Now,” and the aforementioned “What You Did” and “Warning Sign,” was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering. Aperture follows the release of Jadagu’s acclaimed What Is Going On? digital-only EP, and stand-alone single “All My Time Is Wasted,” also available on Sub Pop.
Tracklisting: 1. Explanation 2. Say It Now 3. Six Months 4. What You Did 5. Lose 6. Admit It 7. Dreaming 8. Shut Down 9. Warning Sign 10. Scratch The Surface 11. Letter To Myself 12. Your Thoughts Are Ur Biggest Obstacle
Sub Pop and Hardly Art artists DEBBY FRIDAY, Hannah Jadagu, ill peach, Kiwi Jr., and Shana Cleveland will perform at this year’s SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
Sub Pop and Hardly Art, along with the executives at Saddle Creek and BAMM BAMM, are activating their collective business acumen by pooling resources to throw the adequately-titled “Clear Conflict of Interest” showcase at this year’s festival, to be held on March 16th at the Mohawk.
See below for a full schedule of SXSW shows. For your sonic pleasure, you can also listen to a playlist of tunes from our attending roster HERE.
Tuesday, March 14th
Band: Shana Cleveland Show: Distance SXSW Showcase Location: Central Presbyterian Church (200 E 8th St) Time: 10 pm
Thursday, March 16th
Band: DEBBY FRIDAY Show: Brooklyn Vegan Location: Empire ATX 606 E 7th Street Time: 1:05 pm
Band: Kiwi Jr. Show: Brooklyn Vegan Location: Empire ATX 606 E 7th Street Time: 1:15 pm
Band: Hannah Jadagu Show: Third Man Showcase Location: 13th Floor- 711 Red River Time: 4:15 pm
A Clear Conflict of Interest Showcase. Sub Pop, Saddle Creek and BAM BAM Location: Mohawk 912 Red River
INSIDE 7:30-8:00 pm Strange Ranger 8:20-9:00 pm Le Ren 9:20-10:00 pm Young Jesus 10:20-11:00 pm Shana Cleveland 11:20 pm-12:00 am PENDANT 12:20-1:00 am Model/Actriz 1:20-2:00 am Hotline TNT
OUTSIDE 8:00-8:40 pm ill peach 9:00-9:40 pm Debby Friday 10:00-10:40 pm Kiwi Jr. 11:00-11:40 pm Hannah Jadagu 12:00-12:40 am Tomberlin 1:00-1:50 am: Indigo De Souza
On Friday, May 19th, Hannah Jadagu (pron. juh-dah-goo) will release Aperture, her first full-length effort on CD/LP/CS/DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop. The 12-song album, which features “What You Did,” “Lose,” “Admit It,” and “Say it Now,” was co-produced by Jadagu and Max Robert Baby at Greasy Studios Paris, mixed by Marcus Linon, and mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Mastering.
While her debut digital-only EP What Is Going On? was heavy on layered reverb, making Jadagu’s vocals feel “shy,” she took what she calls a more “intimate, up close” approach while recording her voice for the LP. That experimentation is best heard on the rousing lead single “What You Did,” which leverages crushing accusations against the song’s unnamed subject. Screaming static and a crunchy guitar part softens under Jadagu’s calm delivery as she sings: “Act like it’s best if we make amends, but I don’t wanna talk to you again.”(Damn). Watch the official video “What You Did,” which stars Jadagu, and is directed by Leia Jospé.
Jadagu’s What Is Going On?, and follow-up singles “All My Time Is Wasted,” and previously released Aperture-highlight “Say It Now,” have earned her praise from the likes of Brooklyn Vegan, The FADER, For the Rabbits, Alternative Press, Guitar World, Jezebel, SPIN, Stereogum, Ones to Watch, Under the Radar, Dork, CLASH, The Independent, DIY, The Line of Best Fit, The Forty Five, and Our Culture.
CLASH says “Say It Now” is “A lucid slice of indie pop, the hazy guitars wrap themselves around a lyric that refuses to shy away from difficult questions.” The Line of Best Fit raves, calling it “a triumphantly dreamlike stitching together of smooth R&B tones and spacious indie instrumentation, with pop elements bleeding through the seams.” Stereogum offers this, “[‘Say It Now’] is “a dreamy, poppy indie-rock song with a chorus big enough to sweep you away.”
Jadagu also toured steadily, playing shows and winning over audiences across the US and Europe opening for the likes Faye Webster, Beach Fossils, Wild Nothing, Ritt Momney, Metronomy and Arlo Parks, and performing at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival in July and Pitchfork Music Fest in London. A headlining North American tour announcement will follow in the coming weeks.
More on Hannah Jadagu’s Aperture: Fresh out of high school, Hannah Jadagu released her debut EP, What Is Going On?, a collection of intimate bedroom pop tracks recorded entirely on an iPhone 7, which was, at the time, Jadagu’s most accessible mode of production. An off-the-cuff approach to music making and instinctive ability to write unforgettable hooks belied the intensity of Jadagu’s subject matter. In a short run time, What Is Going On? confronts some of the nation’s most urgent struggles all through Jadagu’s compassionate perspective. “I want my songs to be both super intimate and still universally relatable,” Jadagu says. “With the EP, so many people told me that the songs resonated with them on a personal level, and that’s what I’m always hoping for.”
Resonate it did; What Is Going On? is Jadagu’s first Sub Pop release, but she’d been putting out music on SoundCloud for years, garnering a small online fanbase as she settled into an aesthetic, and recognition from a broader audience was overdue. “It really took off when I became a percussionist in my middle school’s band,” she says. “Writing songs started as a hobby and quickly became a passion to the point that I spent all my free time recording.”
On May 19th, 2023 Jadagu premieres Aperture, her first LP and most ambitious work to date. Written in the years between graduating from high school in Mesquite, TX and her sophomore year of college in New York, Aperture finds Jadagu in a state of transition. “Where I grew up, everyone is Christian; even if you don’t go to church, you’re still practicing in some form,” Jadagu says, laughing. “Moving out of my small hometown has made me reflect on how embedded Christianity is in the culture down there, and though I’ve been questioning my relationship to the church since high school, it’s definitely a theme on this album, but so is family.”
As a kid, Jadagu followed her older sister – a major source of inspiration who she refers to as “the blueprint” – to a local children’s chorus, where she received choral training. “I hated it,” Jadagu admits. “But it taught me how to harmonize, how to discover my tone, how to recognize and write melody.” The aching single “Admit It” is dedicated to Jadagu’s sister, whose boundless love and impeccable taste has been a constant for Jadagu ever since she was a kid. At home, the siblings were raised on mom’s Young Money mixtapes and the Black Eyed Peas (to whom she credits her love of vocoder) but it was in the sanctity of her sister’s car that Jadagu discovered indie artists who would go on to inspire her work.
“Lose” showcases Jadagu’s love of contemporary indie auteurs as it weaves a spare and unpretentious guitar riff with barebones piano chords all while Jadagu sings about the thrill and underlying fear that comes with beginning a new relationship. It is, in her words, a “classic pop song.” “The things we haven’t done/ Play out in my mind/ Would you just give me time?” she sings, nearing the end, as the skittering drumbeat propels the song from a place of contemplative yearning to defiance. “Every track on this album, except for “Admit It”, was written first on guitar, which is an instrumental throughline,” Jadagu says. “But the blanket of synths I use throughout helps me move between sensibilities. There’s rock Hannah, there’s hip-hop Hannah, and so on. I didn’t want any of the songs to sound too alike.”
Emblematic of this ethos is the single “Warning Sign,” which starts out as an acoustic, R&B slowburner before a muscular electric guitar enters the mix and the song morphs into something akin to psychedelic. “I knew I could make another album on my phone, but I wanted to make sure that I was leveling up, especially for the debut,” Jadagu says. So she began the difficult process of searching for a co-producer capable of complementing her work without dominating it. Enter Max Robert Baby, a French songwriter and producer who captured Jadagu’s attention with his take on Aperture’s lead single “Say It Now.” The duo worked together remotely, sending stems to one another via email, before eventually meeting in-person for the first time at Greasy Studios on the outskirts of Paris.
“When I recorded my EP, it was all MIDI, but in the studio Max and I worked with a ton of analog instruments,” Jadagu says. “There’s some Glockenspiel on the album, calling back to my percussionist days, and some synth warping that adds texture.” While What Is Going On? was heavy on layered reverb, making Jadagu’s vocals feel “shy,” she took what she calls a more “intimate, up close” approach while recording her voice for the LP. That experimentation is best heard on the rousing “What You Did,” which leverages crushing accusations against the song’s unnamed subject. Screaming static and a crunchy guitar part softens under Jadagu’s calm delivery as she sings: “Act like it’s best if we make amends, but I dont wanna talk to you again.”
An aperture is strictly defined as an opening, a hole, a gap. On a camera, it’s the mechanism that light passes through, allowing a photographer to immortalize a moment in time. For Jadagu, the word perfectly encapsulates the mood of her debut album. In the years it took her to complete, she faced moments of darkness, sure, but the process of making it, her first ever in a professional studio, was ultimately a cathartic experience, one she now shares with you, the listener. Let the light in.
Hannah Jadagu Aperture
Tracklisting: 1. Explanation 2. Say It Now 3. Six Months 4. What You Did 5. Lose 6. Admit It 7. Dreaming 8. Shut Down 9. Warning Sign 10. Scratch The Surface 11. Letter To Myself 12. Your Thoughts Are Ur Biggest Obstacle
