Back in the early 90’s, you would totally hear me singing (quite badly) along to “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” by Sophie B Hawkins on my boom box (which I wouldn’t retire until the 2000’s). If that song didn’t hit your radar, there’s no way you didn’t know who Sophie was a few years later when “As I Lay Me Down” was all over the radio and still is today if you’re cruising the Easy Listening stations. Last week, Sophie gifted her fans and the world with her new album Whaler Re-Emerging, acoustic versions of eight of the eleven songs from her 1995 album Whaler.
Whaler Re-Emerging is like going to your 30-year reunion if you actually liked the people you went to high school with and give a shit where they are three decades later. The Most Likely To Remain Faithful (“Did We Not Choose Each Other”) has matured but remains true to the original. Most Likely To Have A Restraining Order Issued (“Don’t Don’t Tell Me No”) is still hanging on to that same love, now with a Spanish guitar flavor. Most Popular (“As I Lay Me Down”) kept it’s beauty with a random story-telling scat that’s Sophie signature in concert. Most Likely To Join A Tribute Band (“True Romance”) goes from Jackson Five-ish to more Mariah. Most Likely To Join A Coven (“The Ballad Of Sleeping Beauty”) went from church to the sacred circle.
I love Sophie and I’m a sucker for her early recordings, hearing she was revisiting Whaler had me questioning if she could do the album justice. Whaler had an experimental sound and Sophie’s vocal cords were in their prime. Nobody’s got the gritty vocals of Sophie B Hawkins, not in the 90’s or today. Whaler Re-Emerging is nothing like the original, dare I say that it’s even better, in my gay opinion. Whaler Re-Emerging focuses on the song’s stories and Sophie’s still incredibly strong vocals, which is what I think great music is all about.
