Hannah Bahng Breaks Down Her The Abysmal EP Lyrics

When you listen to Hannah Bahng’s opening track “OLeander,” you’re swept away by her luscious and delicate voice. All of a sudden, the poetic impact of the lyrics crashes over you like a wave. “I’m wide awake / I’m falling for your prose / Can’t stay away, away / from all the lows,” she sings. Just like this chorus, the world of Abysmal leaves you feeling more and more submerged as you approach the end of the track.

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The Abysmal EP isn’t just a glimpse of Hannah’s mind, it’s an invitation to explore the highs and lows of adolescent and young adult life. With no other forces like a record label telling her what to do, the 20-year-old Korean-Australian singer-songwriter unleashes a set of seven raw and vulnerable songs. “The fact that I have the freedom to write and create my own music is so liberating. I always tell people that I’m not very good at expressing my emotions in real life,” Hannah reflects on a video call over Zoom. “Music is really just an outlet for me to express emotions that I’m not usually able to express.”

The project is undeniably a love letter to her musical upbringing and talent. Raised in a musical family alongside her older brother Chris (Bang Chan in Stray Kids ), Hannah recalls that her parents were super encouraging her every step of the way. “They understand what I’m trying to do and they support my music, individuality, and identity,” she says. The midpoint song, aptly named “hannah’s interlude,” features an emotional voicemail of her mother cheering her up in Korean. “My mom’s always been the one to push me to take piano and ballet lessons when I was younger so that I have a root understanding and skill sets,” Hannah continues. “I could do whatever I wanted to do, but better.”

Fast-forward to today, and Hannah is working tirelessly running her own independent company Bahng Entertainment with only herself, her manager, and publicist. She meticulously decides every move—the creative direction, the music video choreography, the album packaging, and each song’s arrangement. At times, she even butts heads with her trusted producer and best friend Andrew Luce when she knows exactly what musical qualities fit with her vibe. (They have an efficient process, but sometimes she jokes with him in the studio saying, “Trust me! You don’t understand my vision, bro. Just do it.”)

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The intriguing backstories of the songs breathe life into the EP, from tuning into Frank Ocean songs during a terrifying turbulent plane trip from Amsterdam to Italy to writing a song in a piano studio in New York City in just under an hour. These experiences all culminated in a polished record filled with authentic tender sentiments.

Below, Hannah breaks down each song and shares her favorite lyrics. “A lot of the lyrics just genuinely come from my heart,” she says fondly. “I’m very passionate about what I write, and it’s such an intimate process for me.”

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