Kismet in Bloomington, MN

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.
is the master of such musical shifts and slides, and
beautifully highlights her constantly altering perspectives.
"Out the Back Door,"
for instance, swings dramatically from
to
blues
before leaping unexpectedly into
drum'n'bass
, while
twirls her vocal styles in even more directions. The
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
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 cafe 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