Albums: Sophie Ellis-Bextor HANA

Covid-19 was a strange period in most of our lives. However, there were some individuals who impacted the wider world in numerous ways throughout the lockdowns. While we all came out to applaud the NHS workers for their tireless efforts, many of us lost weight thanks to Joe Wicks and found connective pleasure in the Kitchen Disco of national treasure Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

While in the aftermath of her Kitchen Disco acclaim, she has enjoyed reliving those escapist moments on stages around the world and even released a Greatest Hits collection to tie in with the theme, the 'Disco' icons previous two records hinted at a move away from the pop-dance sound that established her as a solo artist after her brief dalliance with indie as the vocalist of theaudience.

Both 2014’s Wanderlust and 2016’s Familia had a slightly darker chamber pop sound, without ever losing the radio appeal that had defined her career to date. Seven years later, what will her long-awaited seventh studio album, HANA, deliver?

We already know and love the two lead singles - Breaking The Cycle and Lost In The Sunshine - which proved she oozes radio appeal without losing sense of self, but it interesting to hear a Sophie Ellis-Bextor album that veers away from commercial acclaim to really allow for personal sonic exploration and experimentation.

Teaming up with Ed Harcourt has proved freeing for Ellis-Bextor on her last two record, and it once agains proves fruitful on her Japanese inspired release. Delivering her two most left-of-centre moments to date - Hearing in Colour and We’ve Been Watching You - Ellis-Bextor sounds exhilarated and recharged on these trippy numbers.

Whereas some may have expected HANA to directly pick-up where Familia left off, Ellis-Bextor proves the recording hiatus into disco territory has allowed to craft an album that marries the lighter, floatier moments tenderly with those darker edges.

HANA really is a rather wonderful revelation.