Bristol-based chanteuse Hannah Rose Platt makes a sweeping return in 2025 with news of a new album Fragile Creatures. Due for release via the Xtra Mile Recordings on 25th April, her vivid, intricate, and thought-provoking new work is led by the single ‘Curious Mixtures’, which is streaming on all services today. Following on from her artful, articulate Deathbed Confessions album, Hannah returns with an emotively executed concept record to rival it.
Anatomising the complex relationship between women and medicine throughout history, Fragile Creatures explores how centuries-old myths and misconceptions in the pursuit of science have impacted female health, while creating countless injustices and inequalities.
Opening the door to this mysterious, medicinal world is the captivating first single ‘Curious Mixtures’. Guided with her trademark sirenesque vocals, this witchy dream-pop folk song invites listeners to slink through an ancient moonlit woodland and become a silent observer to a midwife as she goes about her work in the dead of night.
Mastered at Abbey Road alongside the other 10 tracks that comprise her upcoming album, ‘Fragile Creatures’ also sees her continuing her creative partnership with Ed Harcourt, who produces and performs on the record.
Speaking about the concepts and themes at play in Fragile Creatures, Hannah explains:
“This record is both an offering and a tribute to female pioneers in medicine; and an endeavour to honour, and give voice to, the unsung heroines in the history of our health. What struck me most during the research and creation of this album was the deeply ingrained, sinister nature of myth and misconception surrounding women’s health, and the harmful, cyclical dismissal of experiences; decade after decade, century after century, often reinforced by outdated and dangerous practices. My hope is that listeners will not only be intrigued by these stories but also inspired to dig deeper and empowered to challenge the systems that have long ignored or misrepresented women’s voices, as this dismissal remains so prevalent today.”
Speaking about his role in creating Fragile Creatures, Ed Harcourt adds:
“Once again, it has been a dream working with Hannah Rose Platt on our third project together; most importantly because of her deep understanding of the importance of new concepts & her fantastic storytelling – hilarious, heart breaking & with dark twists & turns. Each song is a novella in itself, drawing on the bizarre & shameful past of women’s treatment within medicine, society & culture. It’s an honour to be a part of their stories & at least give them a new voice. We pushed the boat out on this one & I’m ridiculously proud of Fragile Creatures. Hail Hannah & all who sailed before her!”
For this her second full length album, Hannah Rose Platt invites us to a place where science meets superstition and medicine meets myth, to witness the strength, resilience, and rebelliousness of women through the ages, in the unyielding battle for bodily equality and autonomy.
In a texturally rich and sonically varied opus, Platt guides us through a journey that is both horrific and beautiful in equal measure. We become silent observers of a night in the life of an ancient midwife (‘Curious Mixtures’), encounter the extraordinary tale of Anne Greene – a woman who survived her own execution and claimed her coffin as a souvenir in ‘Rest In Persistence’.
We stand in awe alongside the first seven women to claim their place as doctors in the swampy, Tarantino-esque narrative of ‘The Edinburgh Seven’, and chuckle at the absurd yet infuriating roots of medical misconceptions in ‘The Wandering Womb Ballet’. Additionally, Platt shares personal, intimate stories, illuminating the impact of the health gap that lingers to this day (‘Young Men Need Their Wives’, ‘The Sick Rose”).
Celebrating the release, Hannah will be playing three in-stores during the week of release.
April
25th – Rough Trade, Bristol
26th – Banquet, Kingston, London
29th – Jacaranda, Liverpool
‘Curious Mixtures’:
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