Hannah Cole

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.

Cole, who grew up in Covington, Louisiana, moved to Nashville in 2019 to study music business and songwriting. There, she was exposed to new sounds and possibilities – and given the permission to dream big. Like her local musical kin Bully and Soccer Mommy, Cole found a way to merge a taste for heavier rock sounds with a studied sense of songwriting craftsmanship. It was this unique blend of style and technique that drew the attention of new independent label Tight Knit Records.

Cole and her longtime collaborator and partner Josef Kuhn recorded Switchbacks in their home studio between 2024 and 2025, playing nearly every instrument themselves. Aided by mixer Sonny Diperri (American Football, Wisp, Julie), the album features a much wider and denser sonic palette than Cole’s previous releases, with massive, cathartic splashes of sound that were constructed with the live show in mind.

Switchbacks comes out on September 4th.