Culture Cabinet

Somewhere deep in the hills of the Catskills lie plethora of earthstars, tiny fungi that, by their name sake, resemble little stars in the earth. It is from here that Hannah Cohen has sourced inspiration for her newest album, Earthstar Mountain, out tomorrow. 

“I was hiking in our backwoods one day, and I stumbled across [earthstars],” she explains as we chat about the album. “I was like, ‘What is this? It doesn’t look natural. It looks like it’s from another planet.’ So, I sent a picture to my friend, who’s a mushroom forager, and can identify a lot of things in nature. She was like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s an earthstar.’ So I ended up writing this song, ‘Earthstar Mountain.’ Earthstar Mountain is sort of like this fantasy place where my songs come from.”

Cohen has settled herself in the Catskills for the last six years, having called it home since 2018. 

“Moving to the Catskills six years ago really changed my life,” she says. “I had been living in the city for about 15 years, and I had always felt very drawn to living outside the city, but never thought I could do that, because my work was always in a big city. So once I kind of shifted and moved upstate, it kind of altered my reality of the way I interacted with things, the way I interact with people, the way I spend my time with people and my friends. It’s such an honor to live in a place where you can be so immersed in nature and see the seasons change every year, and the patterns that repeat. The way I write my songs now is different because now I take a walk with these songs, or while I’m working on something, I’m hiking. It really has changed my life.” 

Sourcing inspiration from her surroundings, Cohen has pieced together a cohesive album that, like its inspiration point, feels like a breath of fresh air. The album radiates smooth, calming vibes of songs that showcase Cohen’s airy and ethereal vocals. There’s an almost vintage sounding feel to the album, but it also feels fresh. Earthstar Mountain comes six years after Cohen’s last album, 2019’s Welcome Home, and features collaborations from an array of artists like Sufjan Stevens, Sean Mullins, Oliver Hill, Claire Cottrill (Clairo), and Cohen’s partner, Sam Owens (known in the creative space as Sam Evian). The result of such is an eclectic patchwork of musical mastery, that is perfect for anyone who is seeking the intersection of kaleidoscopic Laurel Canyon indie-pop and modern Americana. 

Which, it would seem effortless for Cohen to create that kind of album, given her surroundings. On top of making her own music, she and Owens run their own recording studio. 

“It’s like a revolving door of artists and musicians who are coming up to stay,” she explains. “I had to piece together when I could [make the album]. What really shaped the record, or what really gelled it together, was recording the song ‘Mountain,’ and also the song ‘Earthstar,’ which was the first song I recorded that I felt encapsulated what I wanted the record to sound like. Those two songs were the puzzle piece, the glue. Then, we recorded this Ennio Morricone cover from a film soundtrack, ‘Una Spiaggia,’ which translates to a beach in midday. That’s the opener to side B, and that just made the record make sense to me.” 

In just the twenty minutes I spend chatting with Cohen, it’s made ever apparent to me that she is simply someone who has artistry embedded in her soul. From her innate ability to source inspiration from seemingly anything, to her clear imaginative mind that seems to be ever at work, to her clear understanding of music and genre (she tells me of her hopeful plans to create a disco funk country album), Hannah Cohen was born to create.

And the mastery that she demonstrates on Earthstar Mountain only make the case for why the world needs her artistry, as it offers a unique sound that you would be hard pressed to find elsewhere. 

And thus, I’d invite you to join Cohen on Earthstar Mountain, and step into the world that she’s created. It very well may just inspire you to find your own Earthstar Mountain. 

Earthstar Mountain is out tomorrow. You can stream Hannah Cohen’s music below.