Jesca Hoop
Born: 1975
Location: Santa Rosa, California, USA
Genre: Folk, Indie Pop, Singer-Songwriter
Years Active: 2003 -
Real Name: Jessica Hoop
Meaning of the Name:
Way of Working: Singular vision
Essential Releases
Hunting My
Dress (2009)
Refined second album. Elegant. Nocturnal.
The House That
Jack Built (2012)
An intimately dark, concept heavy record.
Memories Are
Now (2017)
A stripped down effort of pastoral beauty.
The singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop has created a kaleidoscopic discography since teaching herself to play guitar. Without a teacher, she had to rely on intuition, which became the primary driver of her music, as if the universe itself is her guide. Like a true artist, if it feels right, she does it and leaves the rationalisation for later.
She operated this way when she left her family home at 16, but not before her Mormon parents taught her to sing. She also operated this way when she quit working as a wilderness survival guide to live in a shack and start a band in her early twenties. And again, when she moved to Manchester, England, from California, for love.
It was pure spontaneous intuition... or instinct... or impulsivity. However you want to put it, Jesca acts on innate feelings most of us wouldn't dare follow.
Her natural wanderlust also migrates into her music. She veers from one style to another with a childish enthusiasm: folk (Kismet), then chamber pop (Order of Romance), singer-songwriter, then jazz ('Out the Back Door'), never settling, always restless.
Intent on charting her own course as a fearless explorer, like a modern Amelia Earhart, her unconventional work displays a distinctly feminine strength, harnessed from her own personality. For example, on 'Memories Are Now,' she sings "you don't scare me but you try" and "the only thing to fear is fear" with a steely-eyed determination instead of aggression.
Sometimes her songs cover social issues, as on 'Outside of Eden'; other times, they feature abstract poetry. But ultimately, they serve to express her particular feelings at a given time. Come and join Jesca Hoop on her intrepid adventures through poetry and sound.
Skills
*This is a work in progress. Values are subjective.Emotional Impact
70
Mental Impact
70
Originality
70
Artistry
85
Authenticity
85
Live
80
Production
70
Musicianship
70
Singing
85
Songwriting
88
Danceability
40
Fun
55
Consistency
70
Range
90
Cool
65
Charisma
55
