SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MARY HOPKIN – PIECES

Mary Hopkin
Pieces
Mary Hopkin Music

Mary Hopkin has released her latest album, Pieces. It was recorded in her home studio, and she is assisted by her daughter Jessica Lee Morgan on backing vocals, guitar, and ukulele, Morgan’s partner Christian Thomas provides bass and backing vocals while her son, Morgan Visconti, plays electric guitar and sings backing vocals.

Pieces is a fantastic album full of melodic folk/pop and rock songs. Hopkin’s vocals are as good as they has always been, with a combination of gentleness and vulnerability. That doesn’t mean she is a pushover, because she is not, but on songs like “Face Your Fears” she is giving worldly advice and she does it with such tenderness. Elsewhere, such as “Golden Hero”, which is a protest, she presents as much stronger.

The album is beautifully arranged. Very subtle use of strings and other instruments augment the piano or guitar. The music is somewhat sparse but very effective, and does not require huge production. In a sense, when you are listening to the album, one gets the sense of hearing a performance.

There are many highlights, “Pieces Of My Heart” is a centrepiece. It is a painfully honest and emotional song. It is folk/pop at its finest. Elsewhere, the playfulness of “Make Hay” comes on at the perfect time. The song is full of positive advice and it shows a different side to Hopkin on this album. This is followed by “It Really Doesn’t Matter”, an incredible song and an opportunity for Hopkin to demonstrate her remarkable vocal abilities.

Many may remember Hopkin for “Those Were The Days” or “Goodbye”, but there is so much more to this artist. She never disappoints and never fails to astound. She has released some of the finest albums in the past 50 years, and Pieces just may be her best yet. The freedom of her own independent label has allowed her to be herself and produce the music she wants to make. She has worked with many brilliant producers in the past (Paul McCartney and Tony Visconti to name just two), but Hopkin always knew where she wanted to go with her music and over the past decade she has done just that. Pieces is another prime example of her extraordinary talent as a writer, musician and singer.

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