Label: Rock Ridge Music Rating: 4 Guns
Buy On:
Written By: Alexandra Hoover
With wild, unpredictable rhythms and playful, soulful vocals, one would never guess that Andrew Hoover is only twenty-one. His soon to be released album debut, Chances, Stances, & Romances, attests to his magnetic energy and positivity. Even his more wistful songs, like his “Saturday” serenade and “Roses and Joy,” impress the listener with his buoyancy and soft expressiveness.
While much of Chances, Stances, & Romances celebrates Ani DiFranco-like acoustics, attention-grabbing percussion instruments--mainly symbols---are never far away. Tracks like “Soul Sucker”—you know you hear it when Andrew belts out “When you broke my heart, there’s something else you stole. You came back around to take my soul—reveal the dynamic contest between rhythm and melody punctuated with bluesy, soulful vocals.
Andew Hoover sounds like what would happen if Maroon 5, Lenny Kravitz, and Sublime met in a café and had an impromptu jam session. Not that he’s a “jam band” musician. Andrew Hoover is capable of harnessing the energy of a jam band without its predictability.
Although it is going to be released in September 2009 (pre-order on iTunes and/or Amazon), this album epitomizes summer and sunshine. I would love to lazily bask in a lawn chair, sip an exotic drink, and tune into Andrew Hoover’s refrains. Better yet, it would be hard to resist jumping up and dancing to “Save Me” in homage to a Dionysian--like music orgy. I love how his rhythms and tempos change so drastically in the course of just one song. Andrew gets an “A,” especially for being self-taught.
Like Andrew Hoover? Check out: Ray LaMontagne, David Gray, Iron & Wine.
