by Eliana Fermi
There are prayers whispered and sung on dancefloors. HANA’s ExtendedPray brings three tracks that raise the dance energy, a trinity of sonic invocations shaped for clubs, ceremonies, and the raves in between. Released via Anjunadeep on July 18, 2025, this succinct but expansive EP is less a collection of tracks where dance and devotion converge to move the soul.
From the opening development of “Illusory,” HANA invites us into an elemental world. Instruments arrive as awakenings, each tone layered into the mix. There’s something deeply organic here: the production may be electronic, but the textures feel bodily, living. A voice, feminine and humming, hovers like a specter, adding a suspense before lyrics enter with dream-state clarity. Handclaps pulse while rhythmic flourishes push gently into dance motion. The beat doesn’t drop, it unfolds. By the time the second drop arrives, variations in phrasing, instrumentation, and percussion feel like a spell cast to put us into motion.
“Solidground” shifts the terrain as the tone turns steelier, more industrial, yet never abandons its hypnotic elegance. Dreamy vocal textures still sail atop a river of synth bass, which drives with insistence, anchoring the lightness above. HANA’s touch is particularly artful here: the synths shimmer with a chameleonic glow, evoking both metallic guitar resonance and retro 80s techno nostalgia without leaning too far in either direction. It’s stylish, yes, but also heartfelt in making a sonic dance statement.
Then comes “Cahethel,” the most ceremonial of the three. Named, perhaps, after the angel of harvest. It opens with an active synth pattern that feels like divination itself, spiraling upward into an ecstatic pulse. HANA’s voice floats above the instruments in an airy and reverent manner, suffused with delay and reverb that softens her presence into mist. Midway through, the beat retreats, giving way to a breakdown where layered vocal counterpoint becomes the architecture of atmosphere. It’s a space built of vocal breath. When the percussion returns, it’s a reclamation of movement.
Together, these three “sonic prayers” form a triptych: “Illusory” as the awakening, “Solidground” as the trial, “Cahethel” as the transcendence. Their structure, short originals paired with extended mixes, reflects their dual purpose. They are fit for headphones and primed for the dancefloor’s ritual circle. HANA crafts spaces with ExtendedPray as a sanctuary for movement. That’s the short of it!
