Pop singers don’t have to be dainty or careful with their words if they don’t want to, despite what the popular media narrative might have some listeners believing in 2022, and Hannah Gold is out to prove as much with the release of her new single “You Did This” this September. Rather than giving us the kind of resolved, passive pop ballad that the lyrical content in “You Did This” suggests the song could have been, Gold is blasting through an all-out power anthem in this piece that really takes the speakers by storm and begs for us to listen in on whatever comes next.
This hook is absolutely lusty, but it’s ironic that the instrumental backing it gets is relatively understated in the grander scheme of things. Instead of trying to overwhelm us with a lot of might in the bass or the drums, Hannah Gold is letting her voice – and everything she has to say – take up the burden of physicality in this song, which takes a lot more courage in the recording studio than what most of her rivals would have done in this same scenario. She’s chasing loftier ambitions than most, and no one can argue against that in “You Did This.”
I really love what the mix is doing for this lead vocal, and while our singer doesn’t need much of a boost to sound like the most potent component of a harmony, there’s nothing wrong with putting the spotlight where it belongs here. “You Did This” is a single defined by the tonal presence of its vocalist, Gold doesn’t mind bearing it all at the climax of this track so long as it makes her lyrical narrative that much more cutting – which, for my money, it does.
To tell us something with her verses would be one thing, but to use her attitude as a foundation for the story at hand in “You Did This” takes something much more than skill for Hannah Gold. Her talent is unique and being applied brilliantly here, and it definitely makes me curious as to what she might be able to do in a more free-flowing setting where there wouldn’t be as much room for post-recording adjustments. A voice like hers was made to take the stage, and in the near future I hope I have the chance to see what Gold can do in a live performance of “You Did This.”
