Van Hunt - What Were You Hoping For?
After dealing with being released from his label and the shelving of his previous release Popular, Van Hunt seems more determined than ever to break through with this dazzlingly eclectic release.
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Record Label: Thirty Tigers/godless-hotspot
Rating: 95
Van Hunt is an impossible artist to pin down. With a keen eye for Sly and the Family Stone-style flair but with a penchant for rocking out, his eclectic style likely infuriated the record labels that eventually dropped him. The end result is a huge benefit for fans and critics alike as What Were You Hoping For? is just as (if not more challenging) than his faltered release Popular, but at the same time displays the brilliance that he has shown since his debut.
Typical song structures be damned, What Were You Hoping For? appears to be a stream of consciousness album in many ways, allowing for the album to capture Van Hunt’s wide range of influences and run free, as seen on the masterful groove “Plum.” The eccentricity is not all for show either, as the stripped down, country tinged “Falls (Violet)” is as beautiful and bittersweet as anything he has ever written. The lead single “Eyes Like Pearls” triumphantly exudes a Purple Rain-like swagger, while the socially conscious title track recalls Sly and the Family Stone at the peak of their powers.
What Were You Hoping For? can seem a bit overwhelming at first blush– it’s an admittedly scattered album. However, it somehow all comes together by the end as a well thought out and accomplished effort that, when taken as a whole, is likely the best we’ve seen from Van Hunt yet.
Van Hunt – “Eyes Like Pearls”
fuzzythoughts
