Hooverphonic: Between nostalgia and a 'blue' deep state of mind

Music can make you feel a wide variety of moods, can turn you upside down, can make you vibrate, can twist your emotions, can change your state your mind and in many times can make you submerge deeply in a state called nostalgia.

And when it comes to this 'blue' emotion and beyond it, there is only one band able to create this perfect atmosphere filled with sounds and marvelous musical creations: Hooverphonic.

The band emerged in 1996 from Belgium with a massive influence from the trip-hop movement that already started in Bristol, UK with artists like Portishead and Massive Attack.

However, this belgian act -conformed by Alex Callier, Raymond Geerts and Geike Arnaert- started to mix up the main elements of this musical scene with their own 'musical flavor'.

The journey began with 2 Tricky that became popular as it was part of the soundtrack of an european film of that time.

Their first album A new stereophonic sound spectacular was mainly created with a wide and impressive variety of sounds and effects with the use of synthesizers...Inhaler, Plus profond and Sarangi speak themselves about this.

Two years later, a new album was born, new songs like Battersea, Club Monterpulciano and Magenta keep the same 'blue' and atmospheric state of music, while Eden -originally released by Sarah Brightman- made the band more popular with a more commercial sound.

Everything changed in 2000 when the belgian act released the song Mad about you as this tune became quite popular all over the world and was even included as part of the soundtracks and tv shows. This song showed off the magnificent voice of Geike, the female leader voice of Hooverphonic.

Also, a new character was introduced in this album: Jackie Cane, who seemed to be a mysterious girl with a complex behavior and a weird personality.

Their next album had actually as a massive inspiration in this peculiar person, the name: Hooverphonic presents Jackie Cane.

This new 'baby' combined a wider and different variety of songs, from classic trip-hop creations like One and Opium to a bit rock/pop with Sometimes and The world is mine.

And Jackie Cane fell into a deep and lost stage in the song: Jackie's delirium, a tune that includes music instruments from the Middle East and Africa.

In 2003, Hooverphonic released an album recorded previously in one of their european tours. This included their most important songs from the past 7 years and just a new single: The last thing I need is you.

This album is full with the sounds of strings and cords to stressed an even depressive and blue state of music.

Is it possible to record two versions of the same song in the same album? Hooverphonic believed it and released the bittersweet doubled album: No more sweet music.

This new musical trip includes 11 different songs recorded and presented in two quite different perspectives.

While We all float can remind you of a dessert in Africa, No more sweet music can take you back to the stage of an old bar in the 1950's and Heartbeat can submerge you in a futuristic spaceship of music.

A year later, in 2006, the band celebrated their first decade by releasing a collection of their best 20 singles of their past six albums.

This special album contains also a DVD with their videos and one of their concerts in Belgium.

A mysterious and 'foggy' album was born a year later with the name The President of the LSD Golf Club, in which the influence of trip-hop was the essence of the album.

The singles Circles and Gentle storm were released by the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008.

However, the life of the band was suddenly interrupted by the unexpected announcement of Geike who decided to continued her music career as a solo artist.

Therefore, the band had to split and began the search of a new voice.

The 'haunting' is still on process and, hopefully, next year a new stage and maybe a new era of Hooverphonic will begin.

Despite this, their nine albums and their more than 100 records remain as one of the most original treasure that the musical scene in the world have ever presented: Hooverphonic...between nostalgia and a blue deep state of mind.

If you are interested you can login in their official website to find out more about them and listen to their marvelous creations...

www.hooverphonic.com