Her fans might have given up all hopes of hearing another album of original material, but one never knows with Susanna Hoffs whose last such record was out back in 2012, because “Someday” was preceded in this regard by her self-titled 1996 platter, all the releases between and the two longplays and after the latter being collection of covers, done as charming as befits the lady. And she’s well aware of the issue, of course: that’s why October 18th should see the chanteuse’s almost apocryphal opus hit the shelves.
Simply titled “The Lost Record” and containing ten songs, with only one of them a borrowed tune – Shawn Colvin’s “I Don’t Know Why” that was out earlier this year, – it is of a quarter-century vintage, laid down in Hoffs’ garage in 1999 when Susanna spent her days at home on maternity leave, contemplating life outside of THE BANGLES. Not that the separation really happened, as the band had already returned from hiatus, and “Under A Cloud” which will be out in the singer’s version now would land on their “Sweetheart Of The Sun” much later, in 2011.
Purer here, the piece feels also slightly more abrasive – in the spirits of garage rock Hoffs used to love, as did her friends whose number there and then THE GO-GO’S Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin, two ladies she co-penned “Life On The Inside” with. A perfect title for a perfect, long-overdue offering.
1. Under A Cloud
2. Grateful
3. Who Will She Be?
4. I’ll Always Love You (The Anti-Heartbreak Song)
5. I Will Take Care Of You
6. Living Alone With You
7. November Sun
8. As It Falls Apart
9. Life On The Inside
10. I Don’t Know Why