Raised as a Mormon and championed by Tom Waits (she worked as nanny to his kids), Jesca Hoop's music dazzles with a similarly contrary set of influences. In a voice that ranges from gentle, crystalline charm to edgy intensity, she's in turn playful ("Whispering Light"), bluesy ("Four Dreams"), haunting ("Angel Mom"), folky ("Murder Of Birds'', on which she duets with Elbow's Guy Garvey). What prevents this all from becoming a mish-mash of textures is Hoop's single-minded passion, which lends a self-assured cohesion to her diversity. Nigel Williamson
Raised as a Mormon and championed by Tom Waits (she worked as nanny to his kids), Jesca Hoop‘s music dazzles with a similarly contrary set of influences.
In a voice that ranges from gentle, crystalline charm to edgy intensity, she’s in turn playful (“Whispering Light”), bluesy (“Four Dreams”), haunting (“Angel Mom”), folky (“Murder Of Birds”, on which she duets with Elbow’s Guy Garvey).
What prevents this all from becoming a mish-mash of textures is Hoop’s single-minded passion, which lends a self-assured cohesion to her diversity.
Nigel Williamson