Jesca Hoop Long Wave Home
Jesca Hoop's Long Wave Home arrives as a restless, folk-adjacent record that pairs intimate vocals with political bite, and critics generally find it rewarding. Across five professional reviews the album earned a 76/100 consensus score, with reviewers consistently praising the emotional reach of songs such as “Adam”, t
The best song is "Adam" because it opens the album with spacious, orchestrated intimacy and a memorable closing line.
AllMusic singled out “Adam” and “Long Wave Home” for their spacious orchestration and emotional breadth, while The Arts Desk praised “Big Storm” and “Love Is Salvation” for reconfi
Best for listeners looking for personal vs political and isolation and solidarity, starting with Adam and Long Wave Home.
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Full consensus notes
Jesca Hoop's Long Wave Home arrives as a restless, folk-adjacent record that pairs intimate vocals with political bite, and critics generally find it rewarding. Across five professional reviews the album earned a 76/100 consensus score, with reviewers consistently praising the emotional reach of songs such as “Adam”, the title track “Long Wave Home”, and the taut momentum of “Big Storm”.
Critics note a recurring tension between the personal and the political: witness accounts of conflict and media critique thread through lyrics that register isolation and solidarity. Reviewers highlight Hoop's willingness to blend genres - folk-adjacent songwriting braided with brass, gospel-like choruses, Arabic-tinged flourishes, and occasional bracing guitar - producing a sound that feels experimental yet coherent. AllMusic singled out “Adam” and “Long Wave Home” for their spacious orchestration and emotional breadth, while The Arts Desk praised “Big Storm” and “Love Is Salvation” for reconfiguring folk into something stranger and more urgent.
The critical consensus leans positive but not unqualified: many professional reviews admire Hoop's imaginative arrangements and intimate delivery, even as some critics find the record keeps listeners off-balance. For readers asking whether Long Wave Home is good or what the best songs are, the review pool points to “Adam”, “Long Wave Home”, “Big Storm” and “Love Is Salvation” as standout tracks. Below, detailed reviews unpack how these songs and the album's genre-blending choices map Hoop's most pointed statements to date.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Adam
1 mention
"Long Wave Home begins with the personal on "Adam," a spacious yet orchestrated offer of loyalty and affection"— AllMusic
Long Wave Home
1 mention
"She seems to bring the personal and political together on closing track "Long Wave Home,"— AllMusic
Designer Citizen
1 mention
"the more angular and staccato "Designer Citizen," a song that mocks the idea of labeling and excluding people,"— AllMusic
Long Wave Home begins with the personal on "Adam," a spacious yet orchestrated offer of loyalty and affection
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Adam
Now The Ash
Designer Citizen
Big Storm
Love Is Salvation
Caravan
Playground
Signal To Noise
Viv Over Drink
Long Wave Home
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
On Jesca Hoop's Long Wave Home, the best songs balance intimacy and urgency, with “Adam” and “Long Wave Home” standing out for their emotional breadth. The reviewer's tone is measured but admiring, noting how “Adam” is "spacious yet orchestrated" and how the closer ties personal isolation to solidarity. Political immediacy gives tracks like “Designer Citizen” and “Signal To Noise” a prickly edge, while the bracing guitar of “Big Storm” and the Arabic-tinged “Playground” diversify the album's strongest moments. Overall the songs cited above emerge as the best tracks on Long Wave Home because they fuse Hoop's melodic gifts with topical bite.
Key Points
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The best song is "Adam" because it opens the album with spacious, orchestrated intimacy and a memorable closing line.
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The album's core strengths are the fusion of personal narrative and political critique with varied musical textures.
Themes
Re
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Critic's Take
Jesca Hoop keeps you off-balance on Long Wave Home, where the best tracks - notably “Big Storm” and “Love Is Salvation” - reconfigure folk into something stranger and more coherent. The writing is observational and keen, noting close-miked intimacy and gospel-esque choruses while refusing simple genre tags. In the reviewer's clipped, slightly astonished voice, moments like the brass stabs and the abrupt "OK" in “Big Storm” are relished rather than explained. Overall the critic points listeners toward these standout songs as the album's clearest successes, songs that justify calling the record folk-adjacent rather than purely folk.
Key Points
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“Big Storm” is the album’s best track for its surprising percussion, intimate vocals and gospel-esque choruses.
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The album’s core strength is its folk-adjacent genre-blending and vivid, intimate vocal delivery.