Skip to content
The Joy of Violent Movement
Independent Music with an International Focus
covers, music video, New Video, singer/songwriters, Soul Music, Video, Video Review, women who kick ass Video
by William Ruben HelmsJuly 30, 202019:00July 30, 2020

New Video: JOVM Mainstay Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Releases a Fan Submitted Video for Their Cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the acclaimed Bristol, UK-based soul singer/songwriter and JOVM mainstay Hannah Williams. Williams can trace some of the origins of her music career to growing up in an extremely musical household: her father  was a musician and  minister. Interestingly, the acclaimed British singer/songwriter and soul artist  learned how to read music before she could read words —  and as the story goes, when she was a young girl, her mother introduced her to  Motown and Bill Withers, which wound up transforming her life. As the story goes, Williams’ mother quickly recognized that Williams had a natural gift and encouraged her to join the church choir.

With  “Work It Out,” off 2012’s full-length debut Hill of Feathers, Williams and her first backing band The Tastemakers, emerged into national and international soul circles with the track receiving attention across the blogosphere and airplay on radio stations across the States, Australia and the European Union. At one point “Work It Out” was one of the most downloaded songs in Greece with the video amassing over 1.5 million streams on YouTube.

Building upon a growing profile, Williams played sets across the European festival circuit, including stops at Shambala Festival, Valley Fest, Wilderness Festival, Cambridge Jazz Festival and Larmer Tree Festival, as well as some of Europe’s most renowned clubs, including Hamburg, Germany‘s Mojo; Manchester, UK’s Band on the Wall; and Camden, UK‘s Jazz Cafe with the likes of JOVM mainstays  Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, and Charles Bradley, as well as Cat Power.

Williams’ 2016 Michael Cotto-produced sophomore album Late Nights and Heartbreak was the first recorded output with her current backing band, the Bristol-based soul outfit, The Affirmations — currently, James Graham (organ, piano and Wurlitzer), Adam Holgate (guitar), Adam Newton (bass), Jai Widdowson-Jones (drums), Nicholas Malcolm (trumper), Liam Treasure (trombone), Victoria Klewin (baritone saxophone) and Hannah Nicholson (backing vocals) — and the album further established Williams’ growing profile across the international soul scene.

Over the course of the following year, Hannah Williams and The Affirmations received even greater international attention, after smash hit-making producer  NO I.D. sampled the heart aching hook of  “Late Nights and Heartbreak” for Jay-Z‘s “4:44.” “It was an incredible catalyst,” Williams says in press notes, “as a change in our collective career, and getting a global audience. Suddenly, there were millions of predominantly American hip-hop fans listening to my voice, going ‘Is this from the ’60s? Is she dead?’” Unsurprisingly, as a  result of the attention they received from “4:44,” the rising soul act spent the better part of 2018 on the most extensive touring schedule of their collective careers, including stops at SummerStage, Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, Brooklyn Bowl, the Toronto Jazz Festival and across the European Union, where they expanded their fanbase.

With even more attention on them, Williams and company were determined to make the record of their lives. The end result was their Shawn Lee produced effort, last year’s  50 Foot Woman. The album finds the band accurately capturing the visceral power of their live show on wax — white further establishing a sound that generally draws from classic soul, psych soul and funk, with a subtly modern take.

Much like countless other bands across the world, Williams and her Affirmations have been enjoying connecting with their fans and followers in a whole new way during the past few months of COVID-19 imposed quarantines and lockdowns. Putting some of their musical direction in the hands of their loyal following for the first time, the band put a cover song choice to a vote — and the result was the challenge of covering Nirvana’s classic, smash-hit “Heart-Shaped Box.”

Naturally, because the acclaimed JOVM mainstays operate in a completely different genre and style than Nirvana, they craft a slow-burning, horn-driven take on the grunge rock classic that retains the brooding and uneasy quality of the original — while putting the song into a contemporary context. Of course, what the Hannah Williams and The Affirmations cover should remind the listener of a fundamental fact: great compositions and great songs can translate across different genres and styles if embraced and adapted with care, so that the intent and purpose of the original isn’t messed with or altered too much.

Through countless back and forth with their mixing engineer and rapid advancements to each of their home recording setups, the band managed to record and sculpt the song despite lockdown restrictions. And it was done in a way that sounds as though the band were all in the studio together.

“This release is an ode to the world and its struggles” the band says, “a nod to the past but also a move into the future, and most of all a tribute to all the amazing people who continue to not only support our band but also all the important messaging and movements we try to encourage through our art and influence.”
Directed and post-produced by Emma Holbrook, the recently released video is split between footage of Williams in a very English forest, singing the song and an accumulation of footage shot by fans for use for the video:  much of the fan shot footage features people attempting to manage life in COVID-19 related lockdowns — we see a woman pole dancing to the song, another doing some expressionistic, modern dancing, others submitted footage of lip syncing to the song and a bunch of others. Life is stranger than ever and somehow we’ll figure a way through it.

 

 

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • More
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Tagged with: Band on the Wall Bill Withers Bristol UK Brooklyn Bowl Cambridge Jazz Festival Camden UK Cat Power Charles Bradley covers Hamburg Germany Hannah Williams Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Hannah Williams and The Affirmations 50 Foot Woman Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Heart-Shaped Box Hannah WIlliams and The Affirmations Late Nights and Heartbreak Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Late Nights and Heartbreaks LP Hannah Williams and The Tastemakers Hill of Feathers Hannah Williams Work It Out Heart-Shaped Box Jay-Z Jay-Z 4:44 Jazz Cafe Manchester UK Mojo Motown Records music music video New Video New Video: JOVM Mainstay Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Releases a Fan Submitted Video for Their Cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" Nirvana Nirvana Heart Shaped Box NO I.D. Shambala Festival Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings Shawn Lee singer/songwriter soul SummerState Rumsey Playfield Central Park The Joy of Violent Movement: New Video: JOVM Mainstay Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Releases a Fan Submitted Video for Their Cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" Toronto Jazz Festival Valley Fest video Video Review Video Review: Hannah Williams and The Affirmations Heart-Shaped Box VIdeo Review: Heart-Shaped Box Wilderness Festival women who kick ass

William Ruben Helms

All posts

I'm a music blogger, critic and photographer, who has had articles and photos published in Downbeat, Premier Guitar Magazine, Brooklyn Magazine, The New York Press, New York Magazine's Vulture Blog, Ins&Outs Magazine, The Noise Beneath the Apple, Glide Magazine, The Whiskey Dregs Magazine and others. Check out The Joy of Violent Movement Shop: https://www.joyofviolentmovement.com/shop Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement : Featured as one of the top photographers in New York City

  • The Joy of Violent Movement
  • Facebook Fan Page

iThere are no comments

Add yours

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Ads by

William Ruben Helms on Instagram

Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #video #iphone12 #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc @elephantstone @girlieaction @thesultanroom
Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #video #iphone12 #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc @elephantstone @girlieaction @thesultanroom
Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #video #iphone12 #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc @elephantstone @girlieaction @thesultanroom
Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #video #iphone12 #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc @elephantstone @girlieaction @thesultanroom
Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #liveconcertphotography #livemusicphotography #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc #canon6dmarkii #canon77d #canonphotography #canonphotographer #24mm105mmf4l #70mm200mmlf4 @elephantstone @thesultanroom @girlieaction
Elephant Stone at The Sultan Room #elephantstone #psychrock #latergram #nofilter #unedited #liveconcert #livemusic #liveconcertphotography #livemusicphotography #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc #canon6dmarkii #canon77d #canonphotographer #canonphotography #24mm105mmf4l #70mm200mmlf4 @elephantstone @thesultanroom @girlieaction
Activity at The Sultan Room #activity #postpunk #livemusic #liveconcert #livemusicphotography #liveconcertphotography #latergram #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnnyc #brooklyn #nyc #nofilter #unedited #canon6dmarkii #canon77d #canonphotography #canonphotographer #24mm105mmf4l #70mm200mmlf4 @activity_songs @thesultanroom
Activity at The Sultan Room #activity #postpunk #livemusic #liveconcert #livemusicphotography #liveconcertphotography #latergram #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnnyc #brooklyn #nyc #nofilter #unedited #video #iphone12 @activity_songs @thesultanroom
Activity at The Sultan Room #activity #postpunk #livemusic #liveconcert #livemusicphotography #liveconcertphotography #latergram #thesultanroom #bushwickbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnnyc #brooklyn #nyc #nofilter #unedited #canon6dmarkii #canon77d #canonphotography #canonphotographer #24mm105mmf4l #70mm200mmlf4 @activity_songs @thesultanroom
The Turk’s Inn Rooftop #theturksinn #rooftop #bushwiskbrooklynnyc #bushwickbrooklyn #bushwick #brooklynnyc #brooklyn #nyc #nofilter #unedited #canon6dmarkii #canonphotography #canonphotographer #24mm105mmf4l @thesultanroom @turksinnkebab

Support This Site by Becoming a Patron

Become a Patron!

Flickr Photos

IMG_0002IMG_0020IMG_0016IMG_0017IMG_0018IMG_0014IMG_0015IMG_0011IMG_0012IMG_0013
More Photos

The Joy of Violent Movement on Facebook

The Joy of Violent Movement on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
Jetpack

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 10,179 other subscribers

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Patch by PixelGrade.
Footer navigation
  • Contact Us
  • About
  • Shop

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: