speed of dark

Jesca Hoop grew up in a Mormon family where music and singing were an essential part of life. She earned her first paycheck for singing a potty-training jingle at seven years old but then did not persue a professional singing career until her late teens. She had the luck then to become a nanny for Tom Waits and his wife. They helped her, but there is no doubt that she has earned her way to the milestone of releasing her debut CD Kismet with tremendous talent, both as a singer and a writer of extraordinary songs.

I don't use the word "unique" very often. It isn't a word to throw around, and it's hard to be truly unique in the wide world of music. But Hoop takes ingredients from folk, pop, rock, jazz, and even musical show-tunes and creates a new recipe that is uniquely her own. She has an excellent voice that ranges from a low purr to a full-out belt.

Mr. Folkie and I first heard many of the songs on Kismet performed live with Hoop alone on guitar and sometimes with only a stand-up bass accompanying her. "Seed of Wonder" still starts off that way. On Kismet, these sketches are fully fleshed out with guitars, bass, drums, strings, and layers of vocals; and we can finally realize what Hoop had in mind all along.

The track list starts with the shimmering heat of "Summertime," one of my very favorites, then goes darker with "Seed of Wonder," the hallmark of her stream-of-consciousness lyric style. "Seed" really has no hook, not in the sense that songs usually do, but the tumbling words hold the listener spellbound.

Delicate acoustic guitar accompanies her breathy vocals on "Enemy":

"Beautiful
falling fast from a state of grace
and trusting there's a light
in darkest place
my dirty knees
hold the ground when it's done with me
I've come to see that beauty is a thing
that is without grace
you are mine
pennyroyal wine
Fly
like an innocent child
That followed every line
Back to my enemy."

"Silverscreen" begins with the static of an old film newsreel and has almost a show-tune quality. Here Hoop recounts her journey from childhood home performances to realizing the dream of singing her own songs before an audience. "Gates of heaven open/There is me--on the silver screen".

The theme rolls naturally to the pitfalls of "Money" and what people would do to make their dream of fame come true. Mr. Folkie and I liked this from the first time we heard it in the live acoustic version; but here with a full band, it becomes an especially strong statement.

"Money makes the world go round
Money, money, money makes you change your sound
If the price is right,
The price is right."


We heard "Dreams In the Hollow" too, and the album version with its echo-chamber background vocals and strings emphasizes that these are childhood memories recalled.

"Love Is All We Have" is Hoop's tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and one of my favorites on the album. Her voice soars here over simple acoustic guitar then the background vocals and drums add warmth and comfort.

"Intelligentactile 101" breaks the spell with a lively beat and impish humor. "Havoc In Heaven" is another of the demos and is musically similar to "Seed of Wonder." "Out the Back Door" is a jazzy, echo-y stomp with sound-effects including a spinning bottle.

The last track, "Love and Love Again," is the only one where Hoop shares songwriting credits--with David Baerwald (of David and David--Remember "Welcome to the Boomtown"?). It's also my least favorite with its movie-soundtrack strings, but it does make a lovely closing song.

Kismet is a stellar first album, and Hoop is on my short list for Best Debut Release and Best New Artist for 2007. The best news is, there is a lot more where this came from.

Jesca Hoop: Money from Kismet, to be released Sept. 18
Jesca Hoop: Enemy (live) at Molly Malone's, March 28, 2005

Find more songs at my previous post.

Watch this video interview at Critical Eye. The performance is the gorgeous "Summertime," and those are Amanda and Abby of the Ditty Bops on backup vocals.

MySpace | Website | Label: 3Entertainment/Red Ink/Columbia
Kismet will be available in digital format soon.
"Summertime" single and early demos available now at iTunes

CD Release show: Sep 19 2007, 8:00PM at the Ivar Theatre, Hollywood, CA