EP Review: The Lighthouse

Hanne Jøstensen, based in Wellington, is a singer/songwriter originally from Norway. Hanne moved to New Zealand in 2004, initially for 3 years, staying on after meeting her partner. The Lighthouse is her latest release, following up on 2013’s Watch Over Me EP, and was five years in the making. Joined by some superb local musicians, and a Norwegian choir, The Lighthouse was recorded and mixed throughout 2025 by Lee Prebble, at The Surgery.

First up is the title track. A deep cello note provides a backdrop for a strong, throaty voice singing commandingly in Norwegian. The vocals switch to English just as they’re joined by bass and muted guitar. The mood is dark and gloomy, and beautiful with a tragicness. The vocals are exquisite, sitting atop the instruments (now joined by piano and viola) like the sun shining on fresh snowfall. There’s a bridge at the three-quarter point with a touch more urgency, building up, only to be swiftly cut off, the song falling back to its softer feel, before a final chorus section segues into a pensive instrumental outro. Two Gold Rings is quite a different proposition, driven by piano, with the other instrumentation deftly and artfully layered on. There’s a poignancy to the lyrics, “Did she take my place, or did I give it away” being one standout line, the two gold rings representing a relationship that has ended, a melancholy subject for a gorgeous, sweetly airy song.

Wildflower shifts gears again, smoky and dark like a speakeasy, bass and spare percussion interplaying, synth coming in under the chorus which then blooms into a major key, soaring loftily, before subduing itself back to the more fraught mood. The midsection has a tension to it, slowly increasing to an understated crescendo, tinged with regret, then returning to the chorus to resolve. In Trapped, Hanne has adeptly created an uncomfortable musical sense to match the claustrophobic nature of the lyrics, dealing with feelings of needing to escape but feeling lost and powerless. A huge a cappella chorus erupts from the voices of Apes&Babes, an angelic host offering salvation, just as suddenly fading from reach, plunging the protagonist back into despair.

Polar Nights is the final track, a sweetly reflective song with movie soundtrack sensibilities. At times it is quiet and gentle; at others, full and uplifting. Ultimately a song of loss, coupled with the warm glow of happier memories. The Lighthouse is a thoughtfully and gracefully composed EP, with moments of breathtaking beauty.