Hhymn to the Gods

Hhymn make the kind of music that defies categorisation but which has been likened to Americana stalwarts Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver, intelligent indie kings Elbow as well as the Brit-folk of Mumford and Sons. In reality, they sound nothing like the above, instead weaving their own acoustic magic with what they describe as “a wilderness world of zithers, mandolins, ukuleles, harmoniums, dulcimers, double basses, brass and brushes.”

Their impressive debut album, In the Depths, contains a collection of beguiling tunes including the recent single ‘Girl Of Mine’ as well as memorable melodic gems such as ‘These Hands’ and ‘Land of Souls’.
“I don’t think we’ve consciously jumped on any bandwagon,” says Ed Bannard, who formed the band back in 2008 when he hooked up with Nottingham native Simon Richie. “In fact, the band evolved over quite a long period. We were both playing in bands down in London. I was doing some work with ex-members of Gene; Simon was working with some of the guys from the Beta Band. There was quite a good vibe back in Nottingham, and after we became friends we headed back and started playing for pure enjoyment.”
Their partnership turned into a melting pot of ideas, many of them based on the music of the Nottingham hinterland. They soon recruited long-term friend Mike Wynne on drums, Amy Helliwell on glockenspiel, organ and trumpet and Will Jeffrey on bass.
“I like different sounds within songs,” Bannard offers. “There are a lot of mining towns around Nottingham and they have these brass bands with this haunting melancholy sound. We embraced some of those textures.”
Bannard has a story of his own to tell. He is a son of the celebrated Irish chef Kevin Thornton and his wife Muriel; they had Ed at a very young age and gave him up for adoption, in the way of the times. Ed spent the first nine years of his life in Tipperary, before his English adoptive parents moved back to the UK. He picked up his first guitar after being impressed by an older cousin.
“He had a Fender Strat and he taught me how to play the riff from Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, which I thought was cool. It wasn’t until years later that I heard it in the context of the song."
The Stone Roses’ self-titled debut turned his head in a more profound way, as he explains: “Again it was my cousin who played it for me, on a cassette. I listened to it over and over again. It was so powerful and I was at an age where you’re open to something like that affecting you. Later when I heard Badly Drawn Boy’s debut album – the colours of that album were so rich and left-field, compared to the lad-rock that was around at the time.”
In The Depths has received glowing reviews and impressed many of the right people, including BBC Radio 6 presenter Tom Robinson. It’s early days yet, but according to Bannard the omens look good. “It’s a long, slow process and it takes a hell of a lot of money and marketing. Because we’re on an indie label it’s all a bit DIY. There’s a massive amount of luck involved as well as talent, though it’s usually the talentless people who make all the money (laughs).”