For those of you who regularly read this blog, the work of Ella Honhen-Ford, best known with her stage name Hohnen Ford, will not be new: I wrote a lot about her first three singles from the debut EP, Infinity, who finally came out last week (26th October) for the English label Young Poet Records. Ella Hohnen-Ford, 24 years old London-based pianist, singer and songwriter, is what you can call a uniquely talented artist: a jazz musician and student (she studied Jazz at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music, the very same place where Jacob Collier studied, to name but one), she talked on reddit about her study path over the year and shared the stage with different combos (such as the quintet called Treeclimbers, with Tom Ollendorff on guitar, Jonny Mansfield on vibraphone, Will Sach on bass and Boz Martin-Jones on drums) and of course as a solo artist. She regularly do live streaming through her Instagram profile, focused on live execution of her own music as well as renowned jazz standards. What is most impressive about Ella Hohnen-Ford, even at her young age, are her incredible, deep and moving voice, and the grace and elegance she displays as a pianist, being a stunning improviser and a jazz musician to whom it is very easy to predict a bright future. The release of Infinity EP has been accompanied by the fourth song of the tracklist, Don’t Fall Asleep, written by Hohnen Ford together with Matt Maltese, who she recently supported on his tour across Europe.
Infinity EP opens on the astonishing title track, definitely one of those songs you would never stop listening to. The beautiful voice of Hohnen Ford seems to come from a deep distance, ethereal yet very warm, resting on the scattered notes of an unmistakably jazzy piano. Infinity weaves an intricate web of vocal harmonies, generating an enormous emotional tension and melting into a final turnaround that is both a sweet and an enigmatic sort of homecoming. Since this first song, Ella Hohnen-Ford clearly reminds inspirations such as Joni Mitchell or Sarah Vaughn, but in any case you can find a completely personal taste that makes all of these pieces something absolutely original. The gorgeous Send Me A Sign combines the harmonic richness of jazz with the accessibility of the best pop music: the delicately jazzy inflections of Hohnen Ford‘s voice lead a piece that has indeed its roots both in jazz and in the best piano-driven pop music. Here, on the pace of a relaxed yet romantic march, complex harmonic choices such as those underlying the wonderful chord sequences that accompany the refrains meet the accessibility and the dazzling, simple and captivating beauty of the melodic lines. Close To Your Heart has again a distinctive jazzy feel but, at the same time, the song has an intimate vibe that brings it closer to the most minimalist songwriting episodes: Hohnen Ford’s voice delicately glides on a beautiful piano chords sequence, while the lyrics explores the emotional intricacies of relationships. In her own words, “Close To Your Heart is about rekindling love for your person. Daring yourself to love like it’s day one, and acknowledging bad habits. Taking responsibility for your own emotions and being able to laugh at yourself – step outside the emotion in that moment to stop yourself from bickering or causing a fight and remembering why you love that person. I wrote it to remind myself to make sure the hassle and stresses of day-to-day life don’t get in the way of my relationships”. Finally, Don’t Fall Asleep (co-written with Matt Maltese, as previously said) has the timeless elegance of the most beautiful jazz standards squeezed into a melancholic and romantic piano-voice ballad speaking of first loves and first amorous disappointments: “My first ever co-write, this song unfolded from a seed I had milling in my head so quickly. Matt and I essentially met for the first time, had a 2 hour therapy session, ate a soup and then channeled it into a song in under an hour. We remember our first loves and heartbreaks so vividly. Love that could kill! My brother was experiencing his first heartache at the time, and seeing him brought up all those emotions like they were my own.” Don’t Fall Asleep closes these emotional 11 minutes of great music and dazzles because of the voice of her author, powerful and timeless, full of wonderful jazz nuances.
Infinity EP is the perfect first act for an amazingly gifted artist, four songs that are as simple as they are beautifully arranged. Ella Hohnen-Ford’s greatest ability lies perhaps in her innate sense of musicality: she is particularly great in condensing small life stories into musical jewels caught in between the complex delicacy of jazz and the easy-listening mood that is characteristic of pop music. I do firmly believe that the greatness of these songs, and of their author’s talent, becomes more evident when it comes to songwriting: in this regard, you can immediately argue that Hohnen Ford is different from all the others. Despite being very young, I have the distinct sensation that Hohnen Ford has an unlimited talent, that could lead her almost everywhere, and I really enjoy the idea of being carried away on the waves of these melodies, so close and warm and, at the same time, so faint, as if they came from a long distance. Light as a feather, I would say: Ella Hohnen-Ford has one of the most beautiful voices I have heard in recent times, one of those voices you would never stop to listen to, and a magnificent taste for melancholic, suggestive melodies. She is indeed a wonderful pianist, with a remarkable expressiveness on her instrument, and her ability to combine the deep nuances of her voice with a tender cluster of notes is something rare, and precious. You could think that we have many beautiful female voices out there, but I am pretty convinced that few of them show the richness, warmness and colorful palette you can enjoy in these four songs: Infinity EP is an astonishing debut, an introduction to a musical world that promises to be full of beauty, magic and emotions. We just have to wait to hear more, but to me it is clear that Ella Hohnen-Ford has what I believe and hope is a bright future ahead of her.