Susanna Hoffs has always been retro. As part of The Bangles, at times they had a 60’s go-go dancer sound. Her Under The Covers trilogy with Matthew Sweet and her solo cover albums (Bight Lights and The Deep End) spanned and borrowed a lot musically from the 60’s through the 80’s. With her new album, the appropriately named The Lost Record, she’s unearthed an unreleased album from her own archives from 1999.
In the 90’s, I was obsessed with her album When You’re A Boy and her self-titled album. Hearing Susanna was releasing an album recorded after these two classics, is like my version of Indiana Jones’ Lost Ark but without the snakes and the physical effort. It was during this short window in her career when Susanna was doing her own singer/songwriter thing and basking in her full-on diva artistry, in my gay opinion.
The Lost Record doesn’t sound very 90’s, instead it has more of a 70’s singer/songwriter vibe, which is totally on brand for her. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a reissue from a time when vinyl was the only format available. The Lost Record isn’t overly produced; it focuses on Susanna’s recognizable voice, her relatable story-telling, and guitar-heavy coffeehouse strumming. This album would have totally lended itself to a very special episode of MTV’s Unplugged hosted by Carson Daly back in the day.
If I were Susanna’s manager, I’d suggest doing a Lost Tour. Go on a tour she would have gone on in the 90’s had the album dropped as planned. Play songs from the “new” album and her solo 90’s albums. Do a couple Bangles songs for the fans of that era and a handful of covers she enjoys. I’ve only seen Susanna solo in concert once in 2012 and she didn’t do any songs from When You’re A Boy, which I’m still not over (but it’s only been eleven years), so this would be her chance to redeem herself and make it up to me.
