Anthology

Jesca Hoop returns with her third album, “The House That Jack Built” on her own label in June 2012.

“The House That Jack Built” deftly showcases its author’s unflinching tendency to pull focus from widescreen to close-up. Part siren song, part grim warning, it achieves a perspective-warping balance between the haunting intimacy of Hoop’s delivery and an unconfined air of horizon-scanning grandeur from the outset – tempestuous, moodily melodic opener “Born To” shares this striking duality with later highlights “When I’m Asleep”, “Peacemaker” and “Deeper Devastation”.

It arrives with more than a few splashes on its hands. Life and death; light and dark; sex and war; head and heart: The House That Jack Built offers up as much in celebration of the macabre as it does in mistrust of the familiar, with a twist of humor. It’s steeped in an allusion to biology, nature and humanity, but drops precious few clues as to whether its next rush of imagery is set to beguile or repel.

The follow up to 2009’s universally critically acclaimed “Hunting My Dress”, the new recording is a co-production between Jesca Hoop and three other producers, and this visceral album will open a whole new world of listeners to Jesca’s music. Returning to Tony Berg’s Zeitgeist Studio in Los Angeles, where she recorded “Hunting My Dress”, Jesca enlisted old friends Shawn Everett, Blake Mills and Tony Berg himself as her co-producers. Hoop found herself exploring topics as diverse as Greek tragedies (Peacemaker), street artist Banksy (Ode To Banksy) and her often turbulent relationship with her father (DNR and the album’s title track).

Since self-releasing “Hunting My Dress”, Jesca Hoop has continued her knack for collecting fans in high places. Having been endorsed by Elbow’s Guy Garvey, she’s joined Eels on their US and European tour in 2011 and was invited by Peter Gabriel to sing backing vocals for his David Letterman and Jools Holland TV performances, and support and duet with him on his South American tour last year. With the release of “The House That Jack Built”, Jesca is set to pick up a host of new fans, high profile or not.