Danni Hoshino came out as trans five weeks before her wedding in 2022. That’s where See Her starts, and the album doesn’t really stray far from that moment. It keeps circling back to it, turning it over, asking what she missed about herself and why.
The folk production, handled by Don Mitchell of Darlingside, suits the material perfectly. Everything is recorded with a lot of space. The band plays live in the studio, and you can hear it; the songs breathe in a way that studio-polished records usually don’t. “Williamsburg Bridge” opens the album with Hoshino riding the J train from Manhattan back to Bushwick, crying and not caring who sees. It’s a great setup for everything that follows.
The title track is the one I keep returning to. It’s built around a voice memo Hoshino recorded to her future self after coming out, and it tracks three versions of her across her life: at 17, 23, and 33. The question running through it is simple and kind of gutting. How do you not see yourself for that long?
“Big Time Texter” is lighter, a bit funny, about Brooklyn queer dating being chaotic and overwhelming. “Alright” is a duet with Ri Lotz about the end of her engagement. Folk-country, bittersweet, no villain. Both land well. This is a record worth your time.
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