Hannah Cole Announces Debut Album Switchbacks: Hear “MMA”
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Nashville-based musician Hannah Cole has announced her debut album, Switchbacks, which is due out in September via Tight Knit. The record follows her 2024 Glisten EP and 2023 Big Bite EP, and its release is accompanied by the lead single "MMA", framed as a "down-on-her-luck" track.
Cole recorded the album with frequent collaborator Josef Kuhn in their home studio between 2024 and 2025, playing nearly every instrument themselves, with mixing by Sonny Diperri (American Football, Wisp, Julie). "MMA" pairs gritty, "sandpaper" guitars and heavy drums in a style recalling 1990s shoegaze, offset by Cole's brighter vocals, drawing comparisons to Soccer Mommy. The song references the brutality of MMA fighting and draws inspiration from Joan Didion's novel Play It As It Lays, Las Vegas and the music industry. The ten-track Switchbacks is out on 4 September and is available to pre-order.
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Nashville musician Hannah Cole is about to release Switchbacks, her first full-length album, following two earlier EPs put out in 2023 and 2024. The record is being put out by the label Tight Knit and has just been announced alongside its first single, "MMA".
Cole made the album largely by herself, playing most of the instruments and recording with her regular collaborator Josef Kuhn in their home studio over the course of a year, before it was mixed by producer Sonny Diperri, who has worked with acts such as American Football. The single "MMA" mixes heavy, distorted guitars with softer vocals, a style often compared to 1990s shoegaze and to the singer-songwriter Soccer Mommy, and takes its themes from mixed martial arts, Las Vegas and the writer Joan Didion.
The album matters as a marker of Cole's progression from smaller EP releases to a debut full-length record, giving a fuller picture of her sound and songwriting to date. Switchbacks is a ten-track album scheduled for release on 4 September and is currently available to pre-order.
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