‘The Danger of Light’ is the third album from Switzerland’s jazz pop songstress SOPHIE HUNGER, and follows on from the album ‘1983’ which, despite its title, was released as recently as 2010.
Sophie draws on various influences such as jazz and classical music which has allowed her to craft a fully rounded album that still manages to surprise. The opening track ‘Rererevolution’ is a real stormer. A piano and drum based jazzy track, the mix is loud on the CD and the track skitters off at a frantic pace, with slightly muted horns coming in for the chorus. Sophie’s vocals are very strong, as Sophie demand answers to several questions before bemoaning the fact “Where is my revolution?” Although on the strength of this track, I think Sophie could probably start a revolution on her own without too much effort!
Following on from this is the piano ballad, ‘Souldier’, a bit of clever wordplay with the chorus “Oh oh soldier, don’t break your shoulder”. As far as ballads go, this one is really atmospheric, and would easily give someone like Tori Amos a run for her money. ‘LikeLikeLike’, the third track on the album is another that grabs the listener and doesn’t let go. With some really heavy drumbeats over which the piano just swing along, this mixes jazz with pop in a way that shouldn’t work but strangely enough, does, with a really upbeat chorus of “I’d like to see you”, this is one of the standout tracks on the album.
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Even tracks like ‘Z’Lied vor Freiheisstatue’ work on this LP, despite me not being able to understand a word, this one is carried along by the piano and the depth of emotion in Sophie’s voice.
Overall, I think that the album will probably have more success in mainland Europe rather than the UK. However, that should not detract from an album that is filled with some real gems. This is certainly worth some detailed investigation.
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