Chris DeLine

Jesca Hoop’s voice sounds something reminiscent to that of a sweeter Neko Case on her track “Intelligentactile 101,” with one distinct tone exposing itself throughout the entire song. Growing up as one of five children in a traditional Mormon household Hoop’s tastes and interests were defined by the options given to her by her parents rather than that of MTV, sometimes she was banned from watching. That being said her options were far from limited as she grew, eventually citing everyone from Cat Stevens to Tears of Fears to the Beastie Boys as her favorite artists. Over time her song writing developed out of the murder ballads and church hymns she sung with her family and began resembling something closer to that of her modern influences, including Kate Bush and Tom Waits. “Jesca Hoop’s music is like a four sided coin. She is an old soul, like a black pearl, a good witch or a red moon. Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night,” or so says Waits. He would know as Hoop played an extended role as nanny for his three children.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]