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alisonmoyet hoodoo
Artist: Alison Moyet
Title: Hoodoo (Deluxe Edition Re-release)
Genre: New Wave / Synth Pop
Release Date: 25th November 2016
Label: BMG


Album Review

‘Hoodoo’... the art of reinvention and the healing power of time.

Every artist has something to say and is well known that pain is the best source of inspiration. ALISON MOYET´s third album ‘Hoodoo’ is an intense soliloquy of the times, the battles with the record label and with her own mental health… and the feeling of desperation in the face of what cannot be controlled. Haunting lyrics, not exactly corny but sticky love pleas, all combined with tints of the era, still the reminiscent New Wave and adult Pop provide a cohesive and maybe more authentic album than the previous ventures. Maybe because in this third album the general feeling of embattlement is more raw - ALISON MOYET fights against the label constraining her creativity, and that only sees her through money signs; she fights against a placement dislocation within her own life, and she fights against bipolarity - that the music is more attractive, the darkness that lies within the upbeat tunes reminds us a quality of pop that not too many artists are willing to exploit.

Through this methodical work in the reissues, what actually stands is the new material added. Although the original releases indeed acquire a sleeker sound, from the collector, to the avid fan, from the occasional listener to the new one in town, the extra material is what makes the investment worth it. The original release is known music that increases our life-soundtrack, but the new additions challenge, sometimes, our expectations. And this deluxe reissue goes the extra mile by offering the listener quite enjoyable and different versions of the eponymous hit, being remarkable the extended one; adding a couple of mixes of what fans back in the day deemed as the hit ‘Back Where I Belong’, a new track not included in the original release ‘Come Back Home’, a neat gift in the ‘Dig a Hole’ demo and maybe the delight for those who repeal to a certain point the magic of the studio and believe in the transporting effect of the live recording with the now classics ‘It Won´t Be Long’, ‘Wishing You Were Here’, ‘Never Too Late’, ‘Find Me’, and ‘(Meeting With My) Main Man’ recorded back in 1991 at the Town & Country Club in London; a few touches here and there with very good remastering, the sound is crisp and palpable.

In regards to the music, nothing much can be added from what has been said before, if only the extra material opens up a microcosm of questions which, added to what ALISON MOYET has written regarding her particular emotional state during those years, provide a depth not found in the previous albums. Her unmistakable and sensual voice will keep mesmerising the old listener and attract the new ones, and the tension between nonchalance and anxiety prevails to tell the story of the struggle of the gifted. Time heals, and time makes us grow. Hoodoo might not be everything that it is, we can read it more like the caterpillar to whatever little creature might come, but is promising; is indeed an opportunity to reinvent under the deplorable pop circumstance of the time. Hoodoo by ALISON MOYET is the end of childlike pop and the beginning of what mature music might look like…


Tracklist

CD1
01. Footsteps
02. It Won´t Be Long
03. This House
04. Rise
05. Wishing You Were Here
06. Hoodoo
07. (Meeting With My) Main Man
08. Back Where I Belong
09. My Right A.R.M.
10. Never Too Late
11. Find Me

CD2
01. Take Of Me
02. Back Where I Belong (Polite Mix)
03. Back Where I Belong (Soft Mix)
04. Come Back Home
05. Hoodoo (Extended Version)
06. Hoodoo (Starlight Dub)
07. Hoodoo (Single Version)
08. Hoodoo (Instrumental)
09. It Won´t Be Long (Live at the Town & Country Club, London 1991)
10. Wishing You Were Here (Live at the Town & Country Club, London, 1991)
11. Never Too Late (Live at the Town & Country Club, London, 1991)
12. Find Me (Live at the Town & Country Club, London, 1991)
13. (Meeting With My) Main Man (Live at the Town & Country Club, London, 1991)


Line-up

Alison Moyet – Singer


Website

http://alisonmoyet.com / https://www.facebook.com/AlisonMoyet


Cover Picture

alisonmoyet hoodoo


Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 8
Total: 7.5 / 10





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