On her debut album Switchbacks, Nashville-based artist Hannah Cole finds inspiration in the image of the switchbacks – sinuous twists in the road that obscure what's ahead. For a young artist making her way in the music industry, it's a powerful image: we can't really know what's ahead for us but – as Cole has learned – you should honk your horn to tell the world you're coming, and otherwise just enjoy the ride. Melding shoegaze and alternative rock with infectious pop melodies and strains of '90s nostalgia, Switchbacks is a commentary on the pursuit of success and how to protect the pure joy and love that lives at our core. Across the ten tracks of Switchbacks, Cole swings her gaze at many unsettling aspects of the scramble toward success. Lead single MMA explores the ugly side of the music industry through the image of Las Vegas. On the brightly off-kilter Give, she sings, "I feel like I've become an actor, / A TV pastor / climbing up a topless ladder," explaining that "the pursuit of success can feel like buying lottery tickets all the time for money that you'll never see." Mechanical Bull seethes with rage as Cole grapples with being seen as just the "girlfriend" in music settings and not being perceived as an equal to her partner, while on Pitcher, she's paralysed in the face of wanting to achieve perfection. Later, she shrugs off the need to impress on 100 Bucks, reminding herself that she's enough for the people she loves. Switchbacks is not only a finely crafted debut album but also a deeply human artifact, tracing an arc that blazes like a comet to the height of ambition and then leaves you in the shimmer of self-acceptance and contentment. "Success is a moment that comes and goes," Cole concludes, "but I think the joy and experience that comes with making music is something I can take with me forever."
