On Hedy Lamarr, Hannah Rose Platt sings about a performance worthy of a bouquet of flowers. Her character is trapped in an abusive relationship and is calling on the ghosts of classic Hollywood. Much like Lamarr, she needs to put on a performance. Unlike with Lamarr, this performance is more about survival than critical acclaim. With sweeping strings and reprises, the song represents a glamorous centerpiece to Deathbed Confessions that exists in heartbreaking contrast to the dire circumstances the song is about.
“I just had this image of this woman who is sort of getting through each day by identifying with someone she sees as strong,” said Platt, noting that she drew from some of her own darker experiences for the source material. “She’s trying to reframe her life, trying to be seen.”
Songwriting like that is certain to get Platt seen. Deathbed Confessions draws from London folk music history, visits to New York, and plenty of horror imagery. The result is a uniformly strong, layered album that often reflects harsh realities. On The Mermaid and the Sailor, Platt turns a trope Samuel Pepys documented in the 1500s into a song about a decidedly newer problem.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the darker side of mermaids,” Platt said. “I wanted to do the classic tale of the mermaid luring the sailor into the water but I thought about what would be the modern day equivalent of that. I thought about the call of addiction and how that call almost impossible to resist.”
Again drawing from her own painful experience, Platt decided to have the sailor not only climb into the water but join the mermaid in luring others astray.
“I’ve lost someone to that call and it felt more truthful to me to end it that way,” she said.
Mermaids are hardly the only monster to feature on the album. There are murderers, abandoned dolls, and even an act of cannibalism.
“Since I was a kid I would climb of the furniture to get to the top of the shelves with the Stephen King books I wasn’t supposed to read,” Platt confessed. “I think with horror it allows us to look at things that are uncomfortable but through this distorted, sensationalized lens. There’s lots of emotions, not just being scared. There’s loss, there’s sadness there’s dark humor, there’s also comfort in the mystery of it all.”
The album’s first track, There’s a Dead Man on the G Train, has plenty of that. It’s a standout murder ballad in which halfway through the narrator reveals herself to be involved in the plot.
“It comes from my love of any sort of tv show or novel where there’s a big twist,” Platt explained.
And while not all of Platt’s songs have a surprise reveal, they all at least tell quite the tale.
Above is the full episode as aired on WUSB’s Country Pocket, including both my interview with Hannah Rose Platt and the songs we discussed, starting with Hedy Lamarr, which turns glamor into sadness. The interview begins afterward. You can hear the show live every Monday at 11am on WUSB 90.1 FM or check the blog to watch it as a YouTube playlist. Visit http://www.WUSB.fm and https://www.hannahroseplatt.com for more.
Country Pocket 