Hooverphonic
Sit Down And Listen To

It was 1996 when I fell in love with Liv Tyler. She hadn't yet starred in "The Lord of the Rings", now we all know her as "Arwen", but more simply she was the protagonist of "Stealing Beauty", the teen movie by Bernardo Bertolucci set in a rural Tuscany where the beautiful Liv loses her virginity. Aside from the synopsis, that film had other merits: the photography and the soundtrack. And it was by watching that film that I discovered “2 Wiky” by Hooverphonic. Spectacular! By chance, the title of the album that contains that song is "A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular"—what a beautiful title, right?

Eight years have passed and Liv Tyler has lost that Lolita air that attracted me so much. Eight years have passed, and Hooverphonic have also grown and matured, but I like them even more. How strange we humans are, right?

Let's sit down and listen to this new album. A compilation, a live album... Have you noticed that live albums are becoming rarer? People prefer to release a compilation with a couple of new tracks, but quality live albums are scarce. Yes, I just suggested that this is a quality live album. Not a recording in some arena with the audience screaming, singing, and applauding, not a bass and keyboard saturating the space, but a completely acoustic sound coming from a theatre tour, over 30 “Sold Out” dates in small towns in Belgium at the end of 2003. Acoustic guitars, violas and violins, piano, organ, drums, and obviously the enchanting voice of Geike Arnaert that truly shows its versatility, ability, and sophistication live. An example is "The World is Mine" where Geike delivers incredible vocals without fear. The tracklist is perfect, perhaps missing only “Mad About You” (reserved for some Japanese special edition?) but personally, I’m happy to hear gems like “Sad Song” or “Eden” arranged so sweetly, warmly, richly… and the more adjectives you have, the more adjectives you should add. Anyway, there’s an unreleased track here too, and it’s titled “The Last Thing I Need Is You”.

Beautiful, talented, encore.