Jesca Hoop

Jesca Hoop’s previous record – Memories Are Now – was her gold-standard; it moved her from the one-to-watch list to the one-to-listen-to pile. And in my case it was the one-to-listen-to-on-repeat pile. One of the best albums of 2017 for me. By quite a way. It was a perfect study of finger-picked fragility, folk-ish but not in any bent or clever way. Just very good music. It had the confidence of PJ Harvey and Laura Marling to it.

She returns now with something even more impressive though not as “easy” to listen to. You’ll hear even more of the PJ Harvey-thing in this confidence of this record, it’s there instantly with opener, Free of the Feeling which could have been on any of the last three Harvey albums. A change in producer from Blake Mills to John Parish further forces that comparison obviously. But more than the ‘sound’ it’s about the attitude, the belief in self and belief in the sound.

Gentle finger-picked guitars still circle beneath the words but there are new textures now and Parish had previously worked with Aldous Harding. You can hear some of Harding and Weyes Blood and those ethereal vestiges in this new Jesca Hoop record, but it’s not so much that she’s aping them, I hear just as much of Brisa Roche here, just that this record might appeal to those fans.

Shoulder Charge is almost a Lana Del Rey song anyway.

These are the right touchstones to be hitting on or hinting at, sure. Cool. Quirky. But none of it seems as calculated.

What I’m trying to say is where I don’t always believe Lana, and haven’t yet ever believed Aldous I am on board with Jesca. I believe this. It doesn’t feel forced. It seems real and right. And anyway, if there’s a musician she best evokes here (besides herself, obviously) it’s actually Leonard Cohen.

She manages that rare feat of evoking Cohen without directly referencing his treatments or flavours nor trying to be him; knowing of course you can’t. But still she gets close to that bedsit-feel of his early (best?) records.

There are some marvelous musical feels here too (Red White And Black) – hushed moods across fragile, beautiful melodies. Tom Waits has offered spiritual guidance,  just as likely Dory Previn has to (All Time Low).

There’s something forever-poignant in the voice, the words and the faming of both.

I love where Jesca Hoop has got to with her music, you can chart the development across each album to date. More sophistication and refinement with each record. That’s how it should be.

If there’s any justice in the world of music – and I guess we know there isn’t – this would be in the Top 5 album releases of the year. This would have new fans and old both crowing. This would be one of those can’t-live-without-it records. Well, the good news is, it still can be. For me. And maybe for you too…
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