Ryan Beatty, Fiona Apple, Stevie Wonder: singer-songwriter Hohnen Ford shares the tracks inspiring her and her music.
Intricate, evolving and ever-enticing, as she enters a third era and prepares to share her third EP, Hohnen Ford feels more rooted in herself than ever. The project in question will be shared via Giant Music on 3rd October, and is set to be a tender, emotionally resonant exploration of grief and growth.
The latest single, unveiled today (4th September), is “Skylight”. A subtly powerful ballad with dazzling vocals from Ford, the track borrows the nuance of wonderfully talented folk pop trio Tiny Habits. Logging into Wonderland, Hohnen delves into ten songs that inspired the new work and resonate with her own artistry in our latest On Repeat.
Listen to “Skylight”…
Hohnen Ford is On Repeat…
Ryan Beatty – “Bright Red”
There are so many amazing musicians on this record. We were so lucky to have Sam KS play on my EP, his playing and the sonic world of this Ryan Beatty record is so inspiring. It was so cool to have this as a reference and then get to work with Sam himself! The subtle groove and hidden gems in the instrumental are like Easter eggs. Every time I listen to this record I find something new that resonates. Ryan’s voice and melodies are soo gorgeous, but the pairing with this sonic world make it one of those records you can just listen on repeat. Everything is not quite how you’d expect it. I love that.
Fiona Apple – “Extraordinary Machine”
All of these tracks I’ve listed have been inspiring to me forever! Fiona Apple and this record being one of them. I grew up listening to this, I spent a while living in San Francisco as a kid and I so vividly remember being in the back seat of the car and being completely fixated on listening to this song in particular. The janky groove from the strings and woodwind is so captivating under Fiona’s speech like performance. She oscillates between this real grit in her voice and then a soft angelic tone which feels so human. I’m a bit obsessed with the balance of beauty and ugly in records and she does it perfectly.
Stevie Wonder – “Something Out Of The Blue”
Stevie is a North Star artist for me and this record with its strange orchestration, flutes and timeless melodic and harmonic choices is so special. Stevie’s voice is so velvety and captivating it took me a while to realise how unusual the sonic world is. The flute part is almost free riegn and I love how much space it’s given. The track is so powerful without any drums or percussion and proves how a magic voice can be.
Dirty Projectors – “About to Die”
Leroy and I discussed dirty projectors a lot at the beginning of this project. The records with Bjork and the band records have such a specific world with perfect wonkiness, delicacy and power. I love the balance of grit and beauty, the edges in the voices, the soothingness of the melodies and warmth in the percussion. He seems to create by no rules, yet within a second you recognise the Dirty projector sound.
Scott Walker – “It’s Raining Today”
The strings on this track is insane. against the sad and melancholic song, the pedalled strings have this haunting darkness and beauty. This in particular inspired skylight, which has a really subtle shimmer of strings in between phrases.
Bonnie Raitt – “Thank You”
Bonnie Rait ! One of the greatest. I love this record. I love how stripped back this recording is and how her voice shines though the simple yet groovy guitar playing. Her voice carries so much, there’s so much beauty and emotion in her performances. Every detail in her voice is so perfect, it feels so natural but still like the definitive, studio performance that just poured out of her.
Mac DeMarco – “My Old Man”
Mac’s music is pretty perfect. Understated, true and there’s so many layers you can enjoy it on. My brother and I keep this record spinning on repeat at home. It’s perfect in the background or foreground, with depth and lightness. I love the subtle combinations of difference influences, the clave and sometimes jazz inspired harmony with simple lyrics and melodies. Feels like home!
Kara Jackson – “no fun/party”
Such an incredible voice.. an amazing example of using space as an instrument. The sonic is so powerful. It’s challenging to make lower voices shine sometimes next to other elements and this is the perfect example of that. It makes you lean in the whole time. You have no choice but to listen.
The Beach Boys – “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”
Brian <3 One of my favourite songwriters of all time. This whole record is another North Star record for me. The risks and the balance between warm and strange and sweet and gritty sonically and musically is incredible. Every lyric rings more true the more life I live, and the cooler the context of the record is. Imagine putting literal car horns on a record and it still make the listener cry? It’s so bold. This era of the late 60s and early 70s is one I constantly come back to for inspiration. The songwriting, the voices, the jazz scene was in such an incredible place. I am always chasing fearlessness that I can always find in these records.
Fabiano do Nascimento – “Ewe”
I love nylon guitar and I listen to this record a lot when I’m travelling, drifting in and out of sleep. I love the percussive nature of it yet softness. It was an absolute dream to have Madison Cunningham come and play nylon on Ordinary and Burn my return ticket. She is undoubtably one of the best guitarists in the world and the parts and energy she brings to her playing is so inspiring. I loved the sonic world of the nylon with the piano. One of the highlights of the projects for me was having Madi involved. 🙂
