4AD

A playful, performative record, The Age Of Anxiety borrows its title from a phrase found in a notebook given to Pixx (the moniker of 21 year-old musician Hannah Rodgers) by her brother, Luke. It is the title of W.H. Auden’s final long poem, charting one man’s quest to find substance and identity in a shifting and increasingly industrialised world. Published in 1947, it seems fitting that Auden’s rumination on human isolation in the modern age should be used as the title for Pixx’s debut album – ostensibly placing herself outside looking in, The Age Of The Anxiety looks instead to address a generation increasingly isolated by an unprecedented new world, from the pressures of social media to ever-changing political turbulence.

Originally from Chipstead, just beyond the fringes of south London where suburban sprawl starts to break into countryside, Hannah’s is a family of music lovers and her early life was soundtracked by her father’s expansive record collection; she has previously cited acts as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush and Altered Images. Encouraged to sing and write, these formative years led to her creative talents being recognised by the prestigious BRIT School. Aged 16, and already with a number of her own songs sketched out, Rodgers enrolled at the renowned performing arts college, previously attended by the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse and King Krule. It was only after graduating that she begin to think of doing anything with her own music, resisting the more mainstream route traditionally taken by her peers. Adopting her grandmother’s nickname, Pixx was born.