Sophie B. Hawkins: Live
A Review
25 April 2006
by Mandy J Watson
Cape Town, South Africa

At this point you have to switch to the second disc, presuming, of course, that you haven't had the foresight to preload all the tracks into a music player before you start. The disc kicks off with "No Connection". There are a few versions of this song and each one brings something new to what is one of the stand-out tracks of the album Timbre. This rendition is heavily percussive, especially near the beginning, with great work on the drums by Rock Deadrick, and features an extensive amount of bass (Darius Holbert), and, later, piano, which results in a rich sound that provides great energy to the song. In terms of technical sound quality, though, this is probably the worst sounding track on the album as the sound is very muted and lacking tonal distinctiveness.

This problematic sound quality carries on into "Bare The Weight Of Me", also from Timbre. It's a quiet, restrained performance of the song that is briefly interrupted while Sophie searches for a light (presumably for her pipe) and features more strange impromptu lyrics towards the end that you can quite easily miss if you aren't listening closely to the words.

On the next track, "Mr Tugboat Hello", from Whaler, the sound quality improves to the level at which it was on the first disc. "Mr Tugboat Hello" is a strange little song that is hard to define in terms of genre: "cabaret lounge music" is about the best I can do. This version has a faster pace, and is, sadly, not as good as the album version, which is a wonderful piece of music that, as the last track on Whaler, ends off that album beautifully.

Next is "Beautiful Girl", from Wilderness. In a number of ways this is a more interesting version than the album version, with more depth and soul in the background vocals, performed primarily by Gigi Gaston, and more energy in the instrumental work.

Sophie has only released a few covers in her career, and "Feeling Good" is her most recent one. She performs a jazzy, more emotional version of the song, which has recently gained worldwide attention due to Michael Bublé's rendition of it. This live version captures the spirit of Sophie's cover, which appears on Wilderness, beautifully...until it goes off on a weird storytelling tangent that, for me, destroys the song and breaks the flow of the album, but which seems to engage the audience well, as they appear to be highly entertained by it. I guess you had to be there, or perhaps I'm too sensitive in terms of the subject matter of the story. When the diversion finally returns to the song it is welcome, and magnificent.

The "last" track on the album is "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover", the song that catapulted Sophie into the limelight in the early '90s and is probably the song that is most associated with her. This version is reminiscent of the beautiful, hard-to-find, piano-led minimalist version featuring Joe Bashorun on backing vocals and the piano, due largely to Rock Deadrick's vocals, but sound wise this rendition is fuller and richer, due to the larger variety of instruments used and the more frenetic pace. (The Joe Bashorun version, in contrast, is passionate in its simplicity and is filled with much more raw emotion in certain places.)

The show then formally ends but, as an encore, we are then treated to "I Want You", a cover of a Bob Dylan song that appears on Tongues And Tails. It features a lovely, long keyboard- and drum-led intro and is very similar to the spectacular album version, except for changes to the lyrics that Sophie makes near the end.

At this point the album - technically - finishes, and it's a perfect spot for this, but it then runs seemlessly into the two bonus tracks, both recorded at the Sydney concert, so it feels as if they are part of the encore. The first track is another version of "As I Lay Me Down", which is, arguably, better than the Seattle version, and which features a fantastic, impassioned vocal improvisation at the end, which I think is the one moment on the album that I wish I had been able to see rather than just hear.

The second bonus song is the Sydney show's performance of "Feeling Good". It contains another weird diversion out of the song with Sophie telling a "flow of consciousness" story of her experiences in Australia, but I think this rendition is another track that is better than the Seattle version. Once again the song suddenly kicks back into Feeling Good when you least expect it, with Sophie displaying both immense passion and a subtle restraint (yes, that actually makes sense once you hear it).

With that, the album ends - rather abruptly.

Disc 1 is also an enhanced CD, and it features an interactive presentation that comprises an extensive tour diary, with photographs, that you can flip through. There is also a 12-minute audio monologue from Sophie. It's worth finding the audio-note MP3 directly on the disc and loading it into your MP3 player, however, as the interactive presentation only offers play and stop functionality: you cannot pause, fast forward, or rewind to catch a moment that you may have missed, so it's quite frustrating to use. Along the same lines, the tour diary doesn't have a contents section so you can't jump between entries. You have to start at the beginning and page through to the end. It's definitely worth doing so, however, to read some of the events that went on behind the scenes during the tour. Sophie has a wonderful way of seeing the world and reflecting the cultures, as she experiences them, and the quirkiness of some of the people that she met on her travels.

To my mind, the only thing missing from this album is a rendition of "I Need Nothing Else", from the album Whaler, which apparently is usually wonderfully performed live. It's certainly one of my favourite tracks off that album, so I was disappointed not to have found it included. I would also still love to see Tongues And Tails' "Don't Stop Swaying" performed live, but I don't know that it would have fitted in with the tone of this album.

At the moment Live is only available to purchase via Australia-based Waterfront Records, at AU$24.95 [?] plus shipping and handling, which is how I obtained the album. I can definitely recommend the site, as the checkout process was painless and I received the album in the post after about a month (the delay, however, was most likely due to the South African Postal Service and/or the highly in-efficient customs process, and not Waterfront Records itself). The album is expected to be available in the US in a couple of months.

Live is unashamedly one for the fans and Sophie is brazen and unapologetic, both in life and throughout the album, which just adds to its charm. There are moments that some may fine mildly offensive or distasteful and others that many will find to be utterly hilarious. This compilation has done a wonderful job of making the listeners feel as if they were actually at the shows, although it's hard to pinpoint a standout track as so many of them are performed with great passion and energy.

If you're not familiar with Sophie's music or have found any of it inaccessible in the past, this is the album to buy to understand her work better and the appeal she holds for her fans. It also features a good mix of tracks from all four of her albums, giving newcomers a great overview of her work.

If you are already a fan, I think I've said more than enough. Buy the album immediately.

Oh, and, finally, we have a discernable answer to the number-one question newcomers and fans alike ask about Sophie's music: "What are those lyrics sung in the background of 'As I Lay Me Down'?" The answer: "Oh la ka koh" (this time, at least).

The album, due to some of the content, is not suitable for minors.