Originally published in L.S. Media. July 18th 2012
L.S. Media Rating ****
Susanna Hoffs, lead singer of The Bangles, comes back to recording music with the exceptional new album Someday.
There has always been something very West-Coast America about Ms. Hoffs’ music, even the very heavily Liverpool vibe that rolls through some of some of the early Bangles tunes has a tremendous 60’s Californian hippy vibe that is not only engaging but puts the listener at ease and makes them think of less hectic times.
The same must be said for Someday, an album that caresses your heart and soothes the pain for a while whilst revealing a deeply personal side that parades throughout the album, out in the open and with unabashed sincerity. The last time Ms Hoffs released a solo record, the world was a very different place and although very few people got to hear her self-titled second album, it goes to show that the talent was always there it just needed a bit of time for others to get why Susanna’s voice can make even angels weep and tear up their contracts in frustration.
Someday is full of whimsy, it begs to be taken as a very serious recording that has soul, not the music style but something very spiritual attached to it and something definite that sneaks past you only to be noticed by how much you have enjoyed it later. The songs have been mostly written by Susanna and with many various writers alongside her but it’s the songs where she collaborates with Andrew Brassell which brings out the very best in her music. It may also be a surprise to her fans to find out that at no time does she actually play guitar on these tracks, a complete departure, though not completely a distraction to the enjoyment.
There are no two ways about it to say that Susanna Hoffs remains a very classy woman, with very high noble ideas and a voice to match. However in a world that has got more cynical and dark since the days when Ms. Hoffs first came to prominence, it has to be said that the album although full of daring and delightful whimsy, might not get the proper and correct airing that it deserves. In that the world has lost something, perhaps its innocence.
Ian D. Hall