PITCHFORK
BEST NEW ALBUM

“Keeper of the Shepherd is an arrival, not only of a transfixing singer-songwriter who has made a stunning record but also of a person realizing they are more than the pain of their past.”

— Grayson Currin

PITCHFORK
BEST MUSIC OF 2024

RIYL: Alternate tunings; close harmonies; fantasy-league John Fahey x Joni Mitchell collabs; freight-train clatter; the changing seasons; old-growth forests; the Old Farmer’s Almanac; catharsis

NPR
ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

“HANNAH FRANCES IS A STUNNING VOCALIST AND SONGWRITER. I AM ABSOLUTELY STUNNED. YOU COULD CALL HER MUSIC FREAK FOLK BUT IT’S REALLY MORE MONUMENTAL THAN MOST FREAK FOLK.”

— Ann powers

CHICAGO TRIBUNE FEATURE

BANDCAMP
BEST ALBUMS OF WINTER 2024

“Dedicated to the singer-songwriter’s late father, Keeper of the Shepherd sublimates her personal struggles into a collection of orchestral, multi-scaled folk songs with palpable animist undertones.”

PASTE MAGAZINE
BEST ALBUMS OF 2024

Hannah Frances’ fifth album just gets better and better with every single listen. The Chicagoan’s songwriting sticks to you like glue, and songs like “Bronwyn,” “Husk” and “Vacant Intimacies” are so pensive and full of solemn conviction that you’d be remiss to not engage with it at every waking moment.

POPMATTERS

Frances is adept at crafting elegantly and eloquently poetic lyrics, but they are accompanied by lush, complex, and deeply felt music. On Keeper of the Shepherd, she places herself among eclectic, “complete” artists like Joni Mitchell and Jeff Buckley.