“Her most endearing album yet” [10/10] – Drowned in Sound
“Powerful, perfectly executed songs” [5/5] – The Skinny
“Album of the Week” – Loud & Quiet
Memories Are Now is available tomorrow
worldwide from Sub Pop
Jesca Hoop has delivered an official video for “Memories Are Now,” the title track from her critically acclaimed new album, available today from Sub Pop.
The mesmeric visual was directed by animator / illustrator AnnlinChao [link here].
Memories Are Now is Hoop’s best-reviewed album to date. Drowned in Sound gave the album a 10 out 10 rating, and said, “Past, present, and future rest patiently before Hoop, and she’s weaved them all into her most endearing album yet.” The Skinny also gave the album a perfect score (5/5), calling it a “gorgeously delivered elegy to heartbreak and loss; powerful, perfectly executed songs to bring comfort and strength to the weary, broken and scorned.”
Meanwhile, Loud & Quiet named Memories Are Now it’s “Album of the Week,” and raved, “One of the most engagingly idiosyncratic and refreshingly broad collections of solo singer songwriting in recent memory.” And NPR Music added, “In both content and construction, Jesca Hoop’s songs practically burst with ideas: They’re as strange and smart and heartfelt as they are gorgeous, and that’s saying something.”
Jesca Hoop appeared on Lauren Laverne’s BB6 show earlier today to discuss the album and delivered stellar performances of “The Lost Sky” and “Songs of Old” [listen here]. Additionally, Hoop has scheduled radio US sessions including Prairie Home Companion(February 18th, 5-7pm CT), KUTX in Austin (February 16th) along with WXPN’s World Cafe in Philadelphia, WERS in Boston, andWFUV in New York (air dates TBD).
What people are saying about Memories Are Now
“Hoop has been a free spirit, but with Memories Are Now, she understands exactly when to use the bridle and bit on these wild, wise songs.” [4/5] – Mojo
“Memories Are Now is built on stacked voices, sparse rhythm and twisted folk shapes, but the execution varies pleasingly, from the Native American blues of “Cut Connection” to the autumnal bucolia of “Songs Of Old.” [8/10] – Uncut
“Daringly astute and gleamingly sincere, assertive and eloquent.” [8/10] – PopMatters
“One of her best albums to date. Stunning.” – The Sunday Times
“An admirably sharp and focused collection of songs.” [4/5] –Record Collector
“This project has an air of rebirth to it. Hoop and her producer, Blake Mills, have worked to minimize her trademark lush arrangements to make Memories more reminiscent of a live setting. The spare “Animal Kingdom Chaotic” is built around fingerpicked string-work and typewriter clicks. Its Americana-leaning follow-up, “Simon Says,” relies only on a lightly distorted six-string, an upright bass and Hoop’s layered harmonies.” – PASTE
