PERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER (Perth Scotland ) - May 21, 2002

CD LISTEN – DOUG HOEKSTRA: Around the Margins – by Dave Acari

Who the hell is this guy? No doubt you’re thinking the same asus – but it didn’t take long to find out given the (pretty loud) current underground buzz around Hoekstra’s current UK tour, which includes a show at the Bein Inn by Glenfarg next week.

Around the Margins is quite a dark and mysterious album – at the same time, though, it’s enthralling and fascinating and puts Hoekstra in a very different bag from the typical singer/songwriter.

He takes the usual rootsy acoustic influences and (for the album) a bunch of collaborators playing all manner of bizarre instrument and objects and ends up with a pretty original sound.

Lyrically, Hoekstra’s stuff is observant and easy to identify with – beneath the simple-sounding titles like Giving up Smoking and Laminate Man lies some sophisticated and skillful writing. The trick, as ever, is doing something clever and making it seem easy. Hoekstra manages it. Easily.

Of the fifteen tracks on offer, all are originals bar a cover of Dylan’s Isis which hints at what makes Hoekstra tick. But he’s no Dylan imitator and his style is all at once reminiscient of a mellower Tom Waits, Beck, and even Leonard Cohen.

Highlights include the epic Undone which breaks down into a delightfully weird sax (or could it be clarinet) outro, the alt-country flavoured Desdemona which features some great female vocals alongside Hoekstra’s distinctive voice and the gospel-tinged Birmingham Jail.

The last track, Stranger’s Eyes is a lo-fi but jaunty affair that quickly became one of our favourites.

Hoekstra is a unique talent and looks set to forge new routes for singer/songwriters the world over.

Watch out for a special preview of Hoekstra’s Bein Inn show (on Wednesday, 29 May, along with Radio Sweethearts’ John Miller) in next week’s Music Scene.

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