Jesca Hoop

Part wood sprite and part long-lost Andrews sister, Jesca Hoop's neo-folk hearkens back to a time when musicians were consumed by something other than ticket sales and clothing lines. Raised in a hippie enclave of Los Angeles, Hoop channels the passion of the great folkies, but she doesn't stop there on her debut album.

While she travels the traditional folk route on Kismet, (the acoustic ballad "Enemy" is reminiscent of Nick Drake, while "Love Is All We Have" is just as moving as Joni Mitchell's "River,"), the album is hardly an 11-song tribute to the art of the Celtic shanty. The freak flag flies on "Seed of Wonder" and "Havoc in Heaven," where the sounds are as supernatural as any Joanna Newsom harp ballad. "Money," is a spot-on love letter to Tom Waits (who counts himself as a fan), while "Silverscreen" is a throwback to Weimar-era cabaret.

Setting quaint vocals and Bjork-worthy intonation against stripped-down guitar, pulsating beats and jazzy piano, Kismet draws influences from a number of sources. But Hoop cultivates a sound that is strictly her own on this album. Tracks like "Intelligentactile 101," bask in originality as the singer-songwriter uses undulating harmonies to voice a rather bizarre fantasy involving an umbilical cord—territory Joni Mitchell wouldn't dare venture into.

—Elisa Jacobs
09.14.07

Santa Monica fell under Jesca Hoop's spell in autumn 2006, making her "Seed of Wonder" the most requested song in her local radio station's history. Hoop re-recorded it for her debut Kismet album, with assistance from Stewart Copeland, whose complex, ever-shifting rhythms enhance the number's uniqueness, sliding it toward hip-hop here, prodding it into a Native American dance there. Hoop is the master of such musical shifts and slides, and Kismet beautifully highlights her constantly altering perspectives. "Out the Back Door," for instance, swings dramatically from hip-hop to blues before leaping unexpectedly into drum'n'bass, while Hoop twirls her vocal styles in even more directions. The blues edge a clutch more tracks to wonderful effect, yet the singer is equally at home with folk, as she beautifully displays across the dreamy "Enemy" and the sublime "House in Heaven." The latter was lyrically inspired by a dramatic Chinese legend, and musically gives a twist of the East to British folk before sweeping into a '40s-styled jazz revue. The elegant, sophisticated "Love and Love Again" takes that latter style to its logical conclusion with a glamorous Hollywood musical arrangement, as Hoop swells and deepens her vocals in homage to Judy Garland. "Love Is All We Have" is a bit less successful, the mostly acoustic backing haunting, but her lyrics seeming a bit trite when themed to the man-made catastrophe that followed Hurricane Katrina. Much better is "Money," which instantly evokes Liza Minnelli's classic but moves the scene and theme from a Berlin café to the L.A. music industry, albeit musically via a South American tango club. "Summertime," a harmony and harmonics-drenched piece of confectionery, is lovely, but one of the least interesting songs on this enchanting and challenging album. It is, of course, the label's pick for first single. There are so many more fascinating songs within that it almost pales in comparison, for this is a set to leave one breathless with wonder. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide