Hollie Cook – “Vessel of Love” (2018)

Hollie Cook
“Vessel of Love”
Lovers Rock/Reggae/Pop
(Merge Records, 2018)

The lovers rock has always been popular in Britain (remember the song of The Clash?), but in the last few decades it has significantly fallen into oblivion. Hollie Cook successfully corrects that and keeps lovers rock relevant and up to date.

Britain has always been a fertile soil for Jamaican love soul reggae sound, better known as lovers rock, as much contradictory as it sounds, especially during the 70s and 80s (remember the song of The Clash?). In the last few decades, it has significantly fallen into oblivion, but there are performers who keep it alive and relevant. Among these performers is the young Hollie Cook, who presented her third studio album “Vessel of Love”.

How much the work of this singer and author is well received by the British audience and the media is best shown by the fact that her previous album, “Twice”, has been included among the top 50 greatest reggae albums of all time in the selection of the renowned magazine MOJO. (Let’s be real, it’s still an exaggeration.)

In addition to the fact that Hollie has good preconditions for the development of her music, we must take into account her lavish talent, vocal and authorial, charisma and enchanting energy, all important attributes that celebrated lovers rock singers such as Janet Kay, Phyllis Dillon and Carroll Thompson all had. This charisma can be especially felt in her performances (I recommend you to check it out immediatelly here and here), but it is not difficult to notice it on the basis of her studio recordings. Hollie, of course, had someone to inherit the talent from, especially to learn and improve the music craft, since her mother was the back vocal of Culture Club, and her father Paul Cook, the drummer of Sex Pistols.

…we must take into account her lavish talent, vocal and authorial, charisma and enchanting energy, all important attributes that celebrated lovers rock singers such as Janet Kay, Phyllis Dillon and Carroll Thompson all had.

With this album, Hollie turned to the American market, as she went from the British music label Mr. Bongo to the indie rock label Merge Records, probably with the goal of expanding her music in that part of the world. This also could be a cause of somewhat more pop sound and production of the new album, but Hollie knows exactly how her music should sound and does not lose the vision from her sight. As in the previous albums, many interesting arrangements can be heard followed by the strong reggae rhythm section, which is still her solid base, regardless of the changes in production or ideas. As long as she is so self-confident in her work, she is on the right track and this path is surely leading her to a new pop star (which in her case would not be a negative context).

Track list:

01. Angel Fire
02. Stay Alive
03. Survive
04. Ghostly Fading
05. Freefalling
06. Lunar Addiction
07. Turn It Around
08. Vessel of Love
09. Together
10. Far From Me