Hannah Ascher – The Room

Hannah Ascher is a 17-year-old singer-songwriter from Los Angeles whose friends and family urged her to share a collection of songs she originally wrote just for herself to process the pandemic and the tribulations of high school. "The Room" captures the universal feelings of loneliness and the longing for connection that may have been particularly acute during the pandemic, but which unfortunately persist in the lives of so many. Social media technically connects us to thousands if not millions of people (as the song notes, "It's just me and a million friends"), but it is full of "mixed messaging" and distorted reality and fails to provide the true companionship and friendship we require in our times of need. The brutally honest lyrics also probe the dynamics of anxiety - another universal but taboo subject that only recently has gotten more attention with a rising emphasis on mental wellbeing - and how the non-stop, "go go" culture of achievement hijacks us mentally and threatens to suffocate us.

Hannah's songs have been described variously as folk-pop, Americana, and indie pop. They are authentic and autotune-free. Shawn Pander, an Austin-based musical artist whose music Hannah grew up on, offered to help her take the leap from demos to finished product alongside co-producer Gabriel Rhodes (Willie Nelson). The result is Making Space, a precocious exploration of promises and shortfalls, female empowerment, and the power of music. Influences include Billie Holliday, Brett Dennen, Fiona Apple, John Mayer, Taylor Swift, Brandi Carlile, Mumford & Sons, Ben Platt, Stephen Sanchez, and The Head and the Heart.