Album Review

Jesca Hoop – Snowglobe

• 16th Mar 2011

Californian singer/ songwriter Jesca Hoop, who now lives in Manchester, releases a four track EP next month. Recorded while she was working on her next album, these acoustic tracks have a dark side that is uncharacteristic of her music, yet the vocal delivery is as clear and beautiful as ever.

The opening City Bird (named after the urban slang term for a helicopter) tells of living in downtown LA at a time when a ghost city of homeless people sprung up. Soft guitar backs a voice that demonstrates tremendous range to conjure up the reality of the lost souls she saw every day.

While You Were Away has a long ago sound to it, the analogue crackles of yesteryear just below the surface. But there is a warmth to Hoop’s delivery, which tells of her love for her home in emotionally charged style.

The title track is an older song, an account of Hoop’s large Mormon family gathering at the time of her mother’s death. The melancholy high pitched vocals over handclaps and percussion backing combine to make this deeply personal song the stand out track of the EP.

The closing Storms Make Grey the Sea is performed without any musical accompaniment. It feels unfinished, more like a demo perhaps, but it has a mysterious brooding quality that gives it an atmospheric feel.

Jesca will be out on an eight date UK tour later this month. I’m looking forward to the Glasgow show already.