When searching for true love, sometimes you will come across people who just aren’t interested in it. Instead of giving you the romantic relationship you crave, they’ll try to get you to have a casual fling. The frustration of that can cause you to feel like a tourist to romantic love. Los Angeles-born, Montreal, QC-based based indie pop singer Noelle Hannibal captures this feeling well in her new single, “Ain’t A Tourist”.
The song opens with a steady drum beat that accompanies Hannibal as she firmly states that she doesn’t want a showy lover who tries to wow her. The snarl of an electric guitar kicks in as she further states her case by saying she doesn’t want to be given the same old flirty lines. By the time the chorus comes in, Hannibal is passionately singing about her desires as the electric guitar accompanies her.
“I’d rather see your side streets
Don’t wanna climb your mountains
I wanna know your secrets
Don’t need to see no fountains
I wanna hear the verses
Before I hear the chorus
If all you are is a tour guide
I ain’t a tourist”
In fact, the song was partly inspired by personal experience and a deluge of inspiration generated during the pandemic. Hannibal states, “When the pandemic hit in 2020 and we were all trapped at home, I started writing again. I realized how much I missed it. The music started to flow out of me. All my anxieties and angst, my love, my disgust…I have at least 3 albums worth of songs in my scribbly handwriting, in various notebooks, throughout my house and in my car.”
Noelle Hannibal is an award-winning actress/singer/songwriter who appeared in the film Star Trek: First Contact, she has a unique distinction of portraying the first female Vulcan on Earth. Originally from Los Angeles, Noelle made her professional theatre debut playing Crissy in Hair, then moved to Ireland to tour the country performing in both theatrical productions and concerts.
While in Dublin, she made her living as a busker which connected her with several inspirational songwriting colleagues. It was then that she began to write her own music. Noelle has recorded and performed extensively throughout both North America and Europe. She released her debut album, Somewhere in Between in 2011.
Her new EP and single, Ain’t a Tourist, produced and co-written by her dear friend Grammy Award winner, Scot Sax (Wanderlust, Bachelor Number One) and recorded in Nashville, will be released on July 28, 2023. The first single, “Changing” was released in November 2022.
