Jesca Hoop | Order Of Romance - Red Vinyl

MI0729LPX

16/09/22

Limited edition indies-only 'Red Ripple' vinyl

Jesca Hoop returns with her sixth album, ‘Order of Romance’, a record that fortifies her position as one of the most striking and original voices in contemporary music. ‘Order of Romance’ is Hoop’s most intricate and finely balanced album to date, one that draws on classic songwriting, recalling anything from Gershwin to Paul Simon, but creating something that is unmistakably, indelibly Jesca Hoop. It is a deep dive into craft. As Jesca says, “I set out to mature as a writer, to further clarity my voice and stance,through melodies and phrases only I can construct. ‘Order of Romance’ feels like every person, character, or artist, I ever was over the many seasons of my life was handed an instrument to play across the songs.”

In the summer of 2021, Hoop once again ventured south from her adopted home of Manchester to Bristol to team up with producer John Parish (PJHarvey, Aldous Harding), her collaborator for 2019’s ‘Stonechild’. This time additional assistance came from in Jess Vernon (This is the Kit) to arrange for a four-piece horn and woodwind quintet. Legendary drummer Seb Rochford lent his skills, John Thorne plays the bass and Chloe Foy and Rachel Rimmer were enlisted to deliver Hoop’s signature vocal arrangements. The result is a fruitful marriage of song craft and arrangement, brimming with a cinematic charm and lyrical wit that signify anew chapter full of new life for an artist who knows her mind, her heart and voice well enough to trust them in uncharted territory.

‘Order of Romance’, then, is a complete work that demands close attention,an active listen, a filagree that’s apparent lightness of touch belies a serious intent. Themes of empathy and friendship, intertwine with a clear eyed and moralistic poetry on subjects such as gun control, religious and political cults,and climate change.

‘Order of Romance’ is perhaps ultimately an exploration of the endless balance act of being a ‘Human Being’, an approach and examination of some of the biggest theme and issues of our time through the doorway of the personal, a way finding meaning and some kind of faith in a world where so much is disconnected and discordant. As she states, “I seek out reflection and resolve in my songs. I find out who I am in a sense. For a few minutes, I can exist in nature at my full potential, saying just what I mean, in balance, in awe, in wonder and in full force. As a moral agent, a mode I can’t seem to avoid, my writing is time taken to observe and ask questions. I find humour in our predicament. I find danger in the reckoning. I find faith despite our sorry state and I feel connection when I draw it through my voice. I stand my ground and through the music and point inevitably towards compassion.”

Tracklisting

Sudden Light
I Was Just 14
Hatred Has a Mother
One Way Mirror
Silent Extinction
7lbs Of Pressure
Sioux Falls
Like I Am Time
Firestorm
Lyre Bird