Biography
Hanorah is a singer, songwriter, and visual artist from Montréal, Canada. Influenced by the likes of Etta James, Joss Stone, and Amy Winehouse, the combination of Hanorah’s powerful voice and the vulnerability of her messaging naturally drew her to soul music. Following several televised performances and a record deal, she released her debut EP ‘For The Good Guys And The Bad Guys’ in 2019. The record amassed over a million streams, won her several awards, and helped her tour extensively through Canada and the U.S. supporting artists such as Mavis Staples, Coeur de Pirate, and Seratones.
After years on the road, Hanorah took advantage of recent down time to plunge back into songwriting and forge a new musical direction. What emerged was a collection of songs highlighting the overlap between the maturity of experience and the enduring child-like charm of playfulness. Music which journeys through emotions of the past and present, as she blurs the lines between the recurring cycles of time, choice, and circumstance. The result was her first full length album ‘Perennial’. A work packed with RnB grooves and soulful ballads, as it digs deeper into Hanorah’s musical roots to explore the lush tones and textures of her voice.
Hanorah’s debut album was released on October 14, 2022, on EnSoul Records. A new EP will be released in May 2025.
As a child, Hanorah taught herself how to sing. Infatuated by the power and the indefinable authenticity of vocalists like Etta James, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, she would often rewind little parts of a song so she could repeat a lick or a small trill. She slowly began to understand intricacies of tone and how these artists were able to use their voices to have an emotional impact.
As the years passed, Hanorah wrote songs out of pure emotional necessity. Following a sexual assault in 2012, music became a means of survival that helped her through the day. In an interview with Hanorah she shared, “hearing testimonies online from other survivors after I was assaulted really lifted the veil of denial and secrecy for me. It’s a part of why it’s in the music, because I know others need their experiences validated too.”
Hanorah is most musically inspired when she connects with someone through a shared experience. This intimacy drives her creative work forward.
After reaching out for help, Hanorah began processing her assault and through this process began to seriously consider a career in music. She started assembling her team. She met her guitarist, Paul De Rita and keyboardist/backup vocalist, Christian Henegan-Comeau, on separate occasions while they were busking in the Montreal metro. As a new Soul and R&B band, they played in local bars, which soon led to media coverage, televised appearances and a record deal.
With their first jolt of success, they toured extensively throughout Canada. This is when Hanorah embraced her passion for performing. “Being on stage is something else. That is where it happens for me. That is where a song can take on new life. I’ll take a risk vocally and a new melody will come out or a new height in my range will come out or something that I’ve never done before will happen. A song really comes to life when you play it live.” This mentality allows her to be in a state of constant development. It keeps her open to the process, willing to explore new ideas that may be strange or unknown.
After three years of touring Canada and the US (with the likes of Mavis Staples, Seratones, and Coeur de Pirate)
Hanorah dove back into songwriting. Having that downtime at home after extensive touring helped inspire a
more intimate perspective and tone to her sound. Hanorah is always willing to change and try something new. As long as it means she can “get into something that [she] feel[s] true about.”
When asked, “What’s that like to create something that’s true? What’s your method for getting to that place?” Hanorah responded, “Close your eyes, shut off your brain and open your mouth. Let it happen, let it come out, let it exist, cause it does already, I kind of see it like there’s this well, a bank of amorphous abstract ideas
always swirling around and as you consume things like music and art and books and television and that kind of
stuff. You are always adding to that and it is contributing to your subconscious, your bank of tools or your bank of information that mixes with your own essence that comes out when you let it. I’m trying to let things come out rather than force a sound.”
Hanorah has signed with Ensoul Records and her debut full-length album “Perennial” was released in October 2022.
