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For a former Waits mentee, it’s unsurprising that Hoop’s music is largely unique; on Hunting My Dress she manages to successfully combine sweet melodies with rougher vocal flourishes, acoustic finger-picked accompaniments and chamber arrangements with rocky, fuzzy guitars. ‘Four Dreams’ is the closest the album gets to her debut’s Waitsian clunkiness, but intersperses its dominant, wordy, rhythmic motifs with country interludes.
If anyone else were to approximate her style, it would be St. Vincent’s Annie Clark, but Hoop manages to cram many more influences in: the variety on show is nothing if not impressive (touching on jazz, reggae and classical music, as well as more traditional singer-songwriter fare). Occasionally, though, the diversity on show does more harm than good; it’s probably not without reason that the most affecting song on the album is ‘Murder of Birds’, a beautifully simple song for voice and acoustic guitar, which suggests that Hoop might occasionally benefit from a ‘less is more’ approach.
Regardless, though, Hunting My Dress is beautifully refined, and its worth reveals itself more with every listen.
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