Someday

Susanna Hoffs | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Baroque Folk
• ASIN: B008718LFK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,127 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Susanna Hoffs- singer/songwriter/musician and founding member of the Bangles-returns with a new solo album, Someday. Produced and orchestrated by the revered Mitchell Froom, it s an intensely personal song cycle that doubles as a musical love letter to the music of the 1960s, which has always been my reference point for everything, says Susanna.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Susanna's finest, most mature work so far July 20, 2012

By Phil (San Diego, CA)

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

How often can you say an album exceeds your expectations? I wasn't sure what to expect because Susanna Hoffs issues solo albums infrequently, preferring to engage in collaborative efforts with the Bangles or Matthew Sweet. I must confess that the Bangles album from earlier this year, Sweetheart Of The Sun, was spotty, not on a par with their previous triumph, Doll Revolution, so when I got word that a new Susanna Hoffs album had just landed I didn't know what to think.

What I appreciate most is that Susanna has chosen the course of making music relevant to where she is in life. You and I could namecheck any number of enduring artists whose business instincts have dictated that they remain frozen in time, perpetually writing lyrics tailored to a post-pubescent audience, slowly becoming more and more embarrassing over time. Other artists might venture into more articulate, grown up lyrics, those which go beyond five minutes of courtship rituals, but musically they remain trapped in a time warp of audience expectations.

In contrast, "Someday" is as refreshing as the rain depicted on the cover of this album.

The material is uniformly strong. The album may be 31:00 in length, but I am grateful that Susanna has bucked the trend that started with the CD era, that of piling on songs which compromise the overall quality of the finished product. There is no law that says an album must contain fifteen songs or sustain a duration of fifty minutes.

Arrangements, production and performances are this album's secret weapon, giving these songs a timeless sound. The approach comes from the "less is more" aesthetic, but at no time does a number ever sound stark or unfinished. The performances complement and enhance each song, never distracting or upstaging. The arrangements have an organic sound, as though they are the natural expression of how these songs should be delivered. There's a moment at the beginning of "Always Enough" that gives me chills, a brief introduction tastefully reminiscent of, perhaps, one of those Jimmy Webb story songs from 1967-8, a slightly haunting echo of the feeling you had the first time you heard "Ode to Billie Joe". The instrumentation across this collection of songs is delicate, like rainfall to the ears, without ever sounding like, "Oh, Susanna's gone singer-songwriter." The closest point of reference might be the intimacy of The Velvet Underground's self-titled third album.

The feel of "Someday" might be compared to one of Astrid Gilberto's samba albums, without the limitation of being chained to bossa nova rhythms. This is the kind of album that an accomplished artist makes when they're all grown up and they've cast off the constraints that obstruct making an album of which they can be proud. In that regard "Someday" reminds me of June Christy's classic, "Something Cool". Here and there you can hear bits of Susanna's influences appearing as her own personal "pet sounds", but any influences have been fully assimilated. This is not a retro or revisionist history lesson. This is a confident, self-assured album free of the contrivances imposed by producers or arrangers who attempt to second guess what "the kids" might buy.

Lyrically the songs document various moments in time in Susanna's personal relationships but they don't seem to be presented in a sequential narrative. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing an artist reveal moments in the lives of grown ups; these are songs about what happens during that "Happily Ever After". To Susanna, those of us who have passed the portal of thirtysomething still exist, and have life moments worth sharing and remembering.

Bottom line, this is the finest, most mature work of Susanna's career, both solo and collectively. To the mp3 disk I burned of this album for the car I've added the five free songs downloadable from her website, tracks recorded during these sessions. Those 'petite' bonuses will tide me over until the next album.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars SUBLIME July 26, 2012

By Voracious Reader

Format:Audio CD

Finally an album I want to listen to over and over again, without any objections from my teenagers, who love it as much as I do. I've always been a fan of Susanna Hoffs, in all of her incarnations, but with this album she emerges as a full-blown solo artist with a capital A. The songs all seem deeply personal, yet are decidedly universal. The song ALWAYS ENOUGH moved me to tears, while the cheery sounding PICTURE ME is my 18 year old daughter's new anthem, because it describes her on-again, off-again relationship to a T. Mitchell Froom's lush production never overpowers the "main event" which is Susanna's sweet, plaintive sounding voice. This is an album that communicates to the listener all of the moods and seasons of living. It's raw, vulnerable and relatable. I highly recommend it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A glorious ode to music past July 17, 2012

By jallabean

Format:Audio CD

This latest solo effort by Susanna Hoffs is an album I've been waiting more than 20 years for. Not only is it the finest showcase -- to date -- for her impeccable voice, but it's also a pretty wonderful wink and nod to days gone by ... '60s pop has never sounded so good!

What Susanna has done with Someday is present an honest-to-goodness song cycle, rather than a mere collection of tunes. It's a 10-song ride that you won't want to get off of. That, alone, is a dying art! And the fabulous production rendered by Mitchell Froom evidences why producers have, for so long, been critical to the making of great records. At their best, they bring everything together in a cohesive fashion for an artist. He's done that extraordinarily well here.

Susanna has one of my all-time favorite voices. It's wonderful to see it put to such a great use. I'm already excited to hear what comes next for her.