Hannah Cohen – ‘Earthstar Mountain’ album review: Simple ideas executed to perfection

Posted On December 11, 2025December 11, 2025

Patience is a virtue not often commended in modern music. As the world gobbles up art under the guise of content at a rapid rate, an overhanging pressure to create at the same speed looms over the work of many of our great artists. But Hannah Cohen defied all expectations, and finally delivered a record that, after six years of waiting, sounds as patient as the process that got her there. 

The Skinny: Musical patience doesn’t necessarily manifest itself through a hastened tempo. Sure, there are numbers on this record that slow the roll of Cohen’s music to a more delicate pace, like ‘Rag’ and ‘Shoe’. Both of which are beautiful in their own right and highlight her ability to operate in that space, largely thanks to the grace of her voice.

But it’s the patient she shows in executing her ideas that shine through as the greatest strength on this record. There’s a familiarity to the arrangements, be it on the upbeat indie of ‘Draggin” or the groove-laden pop of ‘Summer Sweat’, but it’s all presented through the lens of Cohen. Despite whatever influences she is taking from, each song feels like an extension of her, as though she is wasting no energy trying to be somebody else and instead operating in her own sphere of confidence.

Maybe that’s because the muse for this album was her time spent in the Catskills, in upstate New York. A place enriched with nature and one that triggers a more contemplative style of life, it bred a sense of self-assurance within Cohen.

Of this record and its location, she said, “It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.” Adding, “I always reference the rot and repeat — the cycles of what’s happening around me — and yet these mountains never go away. Everything is constantly shifting, but these mountains don’t move. It’s pretty cool to watch that process.”

Ultimately, that’s what is taking place in the album. Cohen’s voice is a constant yes, but more so the soul that’s coming from within it. There’s an assurance in the way she follows her vocal melodies, and it allows for the atmospheric arrangements to follow in tow, with a confidence to explore whatever idea they similarly see fit. 

The Verdict: Pastiche is sometimes hard to identify. It often takes an album like Cohen’s to jolt you into a state of realisation and notice that everything around you has accidentally bled into one homogenised state. Earthstar Mountain is like the trip you take away from the city to step outside of whatever bubble you have slept/walked into, to breathe in the cool, crisp air of stillness and regain your own sense of self.

Defining track: ‘Mountain’

Release Date: March 28th, 2025 | Producer: Sam Evian | Label: Bella Union

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