Gretel Hänlyn – Drive – Single – 2022

Review for Gretel Hänlyn – Drive – Single – 2022

Facts about the Single

Artist: Gretel Hänlyn
County of Origin: UK, London
Title: Drive
Format: Single (Download, Stream)
Label: VLF Records
Release Date: 04/10/2022
Genre: Alternative, Indie
1Track • 2:58 min

At qobuz available in Hi-res, Download
and Stream @ 24-Bit / 44.1 kHz, stereo

At Apple Music available in Hi-res,
Stream only @ 24-Bit / 44.1 kHz, stereo

For the German translation of
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Review:

On 04.10.2022, powerhouse Gretel Hänlyn reported back with her brand new single „Drive“. The track is the first release since the release of Gretel’s acclaimed debut EP Slugeye and follows a summer of touring that included a sold out debut headline show, appearances at Green Man and Wilderness Festival, and guest appearances at Glastonbury, All Points East and Primavera respectively alongside Mura Masa.

The single is accompanied by a fascinating visualizer, which you can watch here:

„Drive“ may on one hand represent the departure into an era of self-discovery for Maddy Haenlein aka Gretel Hänlyn, but I see it more as a transformation than a break with the musical past. And Gretel shows her highly confident and appealing side on her new single „Drive“ as always. The song was written during a tour in which she craved fast-paced fun and hysteria in her performances.

Yes, “Drive” may well now sound like an experimental departure from the narrative indie textures of her debut EP, and may well be from me a bold refreshing of guitar rock by one of the UK’s most intriguing new frontwomen. But really, it was clear that Maddy is always good for surprises, and that’s a good thing, because this surrounds her with a mysterious aura and makes her fascinating.

And „Drive“ is fascinating, the track is shimmering, moody and is running an intoxicating video in your head cinema. On the one hand it sounds a bit like Goldfrapp under speed, until the middle of the track you as a listener and fan experience a breathtakingly fast drive out of Gretel’s personal escape zone with blowing hair, open car top and with high speed into freedom and away from the regulations of tour life.

But then it gets spooky and the driver of the cabriolet turns out to be a bit of ghost rider and the ride in the open Caprio mutates a bit into a ride with John Carpenter’s „Christine“. And Gretel likes this thrill – and so do we, even if we don’t like to admit it out loud.
„Drive“ is exceedingly cinematic and creates videos in your head that seem a bit like deadmau5’s garish video stagings, the kind he would probably create to best suit this track.

Bottom line, all I can say is „Well done Gretel“, Drive is a lot of fun and it is, yes, surprising. And Gretel is very welcome to keep doing her thing.

Gretel talks about the track and explains, „I’m so excited about what I’m doing musically right now, which I take as a really good sign that I’m doing the right thing. And I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to my musical self-discovery with each track. I also love how I use my femininity and then total neutrality in my music, girly, creepy vocals behind totally genderless music. I’ve also gotten really into the lyricism, not holding back and allowing myself to say things I might have thought twice about in the past or thought were uncool.“

Gretel will continue her live career with a series of shows this fall, including two landmark performances for Pitchfork in London and Paris in November. All tour dates below.

Tourdates:

Date	Location	City	Country
08 Oct 22	YALA!, Lower Third	London	UK
28 Oct 22	London Calling	Amsterdam	NL
13 Nov 22	Pitchfork Festival	London	UK
19 Nov 22	Pitchfork Festival	Paris	France
26 Nov 22	Super Bock em Stock	Lisbon	Portugal

Rating

Mein Testequipment:

Studio 1 (High End):

• 2 x System Audio SA Mantra 50 (front)
• 1x System Audio SA Mantra 10 AV (center)
• 2x System Audio SA Legend 5 (Rear)
• 1 x System Audio Saxo 10 (Subwoofer)
• 4 x Onkyo SKH-410 (B) (Dolby Atmos)
• Auralic Altair (Audio Streaming Client mit max. 32 Bit / 384 kHz)
• NVIDIA Shield Pro mit Plex, Kodi (max 192 kHz für  Audio, Tidal (MQA Streaming Client)
• AppleTV 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Amazon Cube 4K (Streaming Client) Dolby Atmos (restricted), HDR, Dolby Vision
• Panasonic DP-UB9004 (4K UHD Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Oppo UDP-203 (4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player) Dolby Atmos, HDR, Dolby Vision
• Yamaha CX-A5100 (Preamp) 4K, Dolby Atmos, Hi-res
• Yamaha MX -A5000 (Power Amp)
• Sony KD-55A1 (TV) 4K OLED, HDR, Dolby Vision

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