Hooverphonic — Presents Jackie Cane

Concept albums aren't very common in the modern pop genre. Before hearing the Belgian Hooverphonic - Presents Jackie Cane I could not think of any pop act with a concept album. It's also not very popular among the pop fanbase. And what will the concept be about? Britney singing 16 songs about her first orgasm? Nelly singing a full album about how he got that annoying bandaid on his cheek? The next Massive Attack album goes deeply into their 6 years of inactivity? I don't think anyone is waiting for these concepts, but Hooverphonic did it, writing an interesting concept album.

Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane is about Jackie Cane, a character they created on previous album The Magnificent Tree. The album follows the rise and fall of this fictional celebrity. At first this might not seem very interesting, but Hooverphonic did a good job working out the songs and the whole atmosphere of the album. It all fits together flawlessy, but you can also enjoy each song on it's own.

While Hooverphonic played pretty good poppy trip-hop on The Magnificent Tree, Presents Jackie Cane has a more organic feel to it. The band stepped down using trip-hop cliché sounds, and started using more 'normal' instruments, like trumpets and strings. This gives a couple of the songs more of a Musical atmosphere. A bit over the top at times, but I think it fits the album well, and makes it more fun to listen to. Don't worry however, Hooverphonic didn't loose all their trip-hop roots, there is plenty to 'trip' over.

While the story about Jackie Cane starts happy with songs like Sometimes and The World Is Mine, it get's much darker near the end. Which makes the end of the album very interesting. Songs like Day After Day, The Last Supper and The Kiss are some of Hooverphonic's best work.

Personally I'm intrigued by this album. Hooverphonic decided to do something original and fresh and succeeded. With a concept album it's always tricky, the story has to be interesting and the songs have to fit with the story, and be interesting on their own as well. Hooverphonic managed to do all of this and maybe released their best album up till now. Belgium can be proud...