Sophie Hunger - Supermoon

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 5 / 7 / 2015

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Currently residing in California, Swiss-born Emilie Jeanne-Sophie Welti has, after spending time living in Bern, Berlin, London and Zurich, recently released her fifth studio album under her Sophie Hunger alias. There was a live album, ‘Rules of Fire’, issued in 2013 also under that name and a couple of albums by the band Fisher from a decade ago which featured Sophie’s vocals. Sophie has always been an interesting artist, never one to follow the rules or allow her music to be easily pigeon-holed into any one category. Her music has incorporated elements of jazz, blues, pop and folk to create a soundscape that is unique to this talented artist. There’s always the risk that when an artist has such a unique musical vision their appeal will be limited, especially during a period when the average attention span is at an all time low. While it certainly takes time for ‘Supermoon’ to reveal all of its charms, it’s not as inaccessible as some might have you believe. The opening and title track does actually grab the listener’s attention immediately. There’s darkness hanging over most of this album and the atmospheric title song is an instant indicator that, while in lesser skilled hands this might well be just another singer-songwriter trying to push boundaries and not succeeding too well, Hunger, along with producer John Vanderslice, creates not just songs but structured pieces of art, full of unexpected twists and turns while still retaining a natural flow. While always experimenting with her sound, Sophie never loses sight of her ability to inject each song with at least one of her unmistakable hooks to keep those who would usually wander off interested. ‘Supermoon’ is one of those albums which is impossible to describe accurately as Sophie really does have her own unique sound that Vanderslice has captured perfectly. There is so much ground covered over these dozen songs that each play feels like the first time you’ve heard the album. Even though the songs have a familiar feel at just the second listen, there is so much to take in that they retain that freshness and surprise every time. Maybe the most unexpected moment happens during ‘La Chanson d’Helene’. This piano driven, melodic string -drenched diversion is interspersed with spoken lines by Eric Cantona who does the best Serge Gainsbourg impression ever. It’s light years away from any other song on the album and shows the diversity of Sophie’s work. It really should disrupt the flow of the album but in reality it does the opposite. ‘We are the Living’, which follows that song. reverts back to Sophie’s earlier jazzy sides and not even such a broad change in style can interrupt the natural flow of this collection. Even the following acoustic ‘Craze’ seems like the most obvious way to continue the album, each song being so different from what has gone before yet still not feeling out of place. Maybe on first listen this group of songs appears to be in need of a little more thought to the running order, but by the second play it makes so much more sense. The album, after taking in all the above mentioned genres and sprinkling a little hip hop and electro over some of the tunes, ends with ‘Queen Drifter’ one of the most instantly accessible songs on the album and surely one of the most personal songs on ‘Supermoon’. Drifting, which has been a major part of Sophie’s life, is the obvious theme of the song, and with the emotion she displays in her vocals it’s clear that this song means a great deal to Sophie. It’s a beautiful piece of work, and while not wholly representative of the album will leave you in no doubt that Sophie Hunger really deserves to be checked out. From the sassy, poppy ‘Superman Woman’ through the darker, harder beat of ‘Love is Not the Answer’ to that stunningly beautiful closing song, Sophie delivers a fine collection of songs that will satisfy the needs of any music lover that is searching for something different that while pushing boundaries isn’t too far out there to enjoy at any time.

Track Listing:-

1 Supermoon
2 Mad Miles
3 Love Is Not The Answer
4 Superman Woman
5 Die Ganze Welt
6 Fathr
7 The Age Of Lavender
8 La Chanson d'Hélène
9 We Are The Living
10 Craze
11 Heicho
12 Queen Drifter

Band Links:-

http://sophiehunger.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sophiehunger
https://twitter.com/sophiehunger

Label Links:-

http://www.twogentlemen.net/
https://www.facebook.com/twogentlemen
https://www.youtube.com/user/gentlemenmusic

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