Hannah Wicklund arrives at War On Women; Calling All Good Men with plenty of scores to settle, but it would be a mistake to reduce the album to a simple settling-of-scores exercise. There’s anger, yes, and plenty of it. There’s also heartbreak, disillusionment with the music industry, threats, complicit silences and the feeling that she has spent far too long letting other people make decisions for her. What matters is how she manages to turn all of that into an album about reclaiming her own voice.
The album opens and closes almost a cappella, as if Wicklund wanted to make it clear from the very beginning that the guitar matters, but what really matters here is what she has to say. Along the way, there’s blues-rock, soul, folk, gospel and hard rock, with moments when the guitar takes centre stage. Made with limited resources but a very clear sense of direction, the production keeps things fairly natural without polishing away all the rough edges.
Wicklund is at her best when she turns all of that into concrete images: “in those tears is information”, a “golden goblet” that leaves a stain on the face, love as “the token” that has to be spent in order to be free, or that devastating “I left Tennessee with the man of my dreams / And I woke up to you”. It’s in details like these that the album finds some of its finest moments.
When the album looks beyond the personal and moves into subjects such as patriarchy, war, religion, the environment or corporate power, it takes on an almost manifesto-like tone, although she often prefers to say things plainly rather than tiptoe around them. Light, intuition and creativity keep coming up against fear, control and silence throughout the record. On songs such as “The Token” and “Stockholm”, those ideas become more personal and, as a result, more nuanced.
Musically, Wicklund is superb. The guitar is always present without taking over everything else. That’s why “Cowards & Kings” hits as hard as it does. When that long, unrestrained solo finally arrives, it doesn’t feel like showing off, but like the release of everything the album has been holding back.
War On Women; Calling All Good Men is an ambitious, visceral and deeply alive album, the kind of record whose small imperfections are part of its character. Wicklund isn’t interested in softening what she has been through or making an easy, comfortable record. She wants to take back control of her story, her music and her space. The title sums up that journey rather well. It begins by putting the focus on violence against women and ends by reaching out to the men willing to get involved. By the end, Hannah Wicklund sounds back in control, but she hasn’t given up on hope.
HANNAH WICKLUND OCTOBER 2026 HEADLINE TOUR DATES
1st – Birmingham, Institute 2
2nd – Liverpool, O2 Academy
4th – Guildford, Boiler Room
8th – Tunbridge Wells, The Forum
9th – Arlington, Arlington Arts Centre
10th – Norwich, Waterfront
11th – London, The Lexington
14th – Farsley, Old Woollen
17th – Bury, The Met
19th – Edinburgh, Speakeasy
20th – Glasgow, Rum Shack
22nd – Grimsby, Yardbirds
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