Meet Your Creator: Hannah Peel

Hannah Peel's tenure as a musician quite naturally led to her working as a BBC Radio 3 broadcaster, where she's been hosting a recurring program called Night Tracks since 2019. Not only is Peel an excellent musician on her own, but she has great taste in selecting the musical works of others. As the name indicates, the show features a selection of sounds and songs designed for winding down during evening hours and includes both Peel and British broadcaster, curator, and writer Sara Mohr-Pietsch as hosts. Their description of the show bills it as "an adventurous, immersive soundtrack for late-night listening, from classical to contemporary and everything in between," a fitting bio for their selections but also a summary that's not too far off from the work of Peel herself.

Though she might not be a household name (yet), the compositions Peel has been releasing—both as a solo artist and a collaborator with others—have been continually gaining more international attention and acclaim. Working in the field of electronic music with a focus on synthesizers and classical-based compositions, Peel is also a sound designer who has been tapped for multiple film scoring projects. She was even nominated for an Emmy for her work scoring the Game Of Thrones: The Last Watch documentary in 2019. 

That's not the only national award attention on her resume lately, either. In 2021, Hannah's solo album Fir Wave was nominated for the Mercury Prize, the UK's most prestigious music award, which comes with a hefty 25,000 pound prize. Though Peel's album didn't end up making it past the short list, and the prize eventually went to Arlop Parks for the album Collapsed In Sunbeams, the media attention surrounding her nomination allowed Peel to speak out on the way women's contributions to electronic music are sometimes ignored. As her album was released during the shutdowns of 2020 due to the Covid-19 global pandemic, Peel also noted that time to stay still and quietly listen might've benefited her particular sonic style.

"Maybe it just came at a time when people had the time to sit at home and listen to music, listen to the album form, and celebrate those voices that have been unheard," she told the NME, noting the historical influences that Fir Wave alludes to. "[This album] references a lot of the Radiophonic Workshop and Delia Derbyshire in the '70s. Those unheard voices that were unearthed through archives and have been allowed to breathe has probably touched a lot of people–especially because the record is really forward-looking; it's not retrospective. It's about the future and acknowledging our eco-climate and things that are happening right now."

Peel further notes that women were a "massive" part of electronic music as we know it today and hopes that the attention her work is getting will lead to more growth for more gender diversity in the space. "Those artists in themselves had a lot to deal with, and a lot of times, were ignored," she said. "And it's amazing now that we can celebrate them and actually look forward to inspiring other female artists to make electronic music." Perhaps some of them will even turn their attention to the looming climate crisis in the same way that Peel has.

Moving back to the countryside from London is likely part of what sparked Peel's renewed interest in composing songs about the natural world. Born in Craigavon, Northern Island, Peel's roots in music began with her father, an amateur folk musician who she sometimes joined in performances as a child. After studying violin, trombone, and piano at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Peel began releasing music with groups like The Magnetic North, and put out her debut solo album, The Broken Wave, in 2011. Peel often opts to release music through her own label, My Own Pleasure, but has since worked with a litany of other labels on projects as disparate as the Game Of Thrones documentary score and countless collaborations. Her latest album, The Unfolding, was released in April of 2022 and quickly became the No. 1 classical album in the UK. It's available to stream on Bandcamp or on beautifully appointed vinyl. 

What makes Peel's music so fascinating is the way she blends old world, classic sounds, and operatic vocals with the fresh and inventive energy of electronic music, synthesizers, and glitchy beats. "I find that electronic music is not cold," she explained. "It's full of passion. Those soundwaves are like an orchestra. There is no reason why a synthesizer should be separate from a violin. If you find the right textures, they can work."

Listen to Hannah's KPM Shorts album Fir Wave.

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