FACING EDEN by Hope Newman Kemp

FACING EDEN began as an EP but blossomed into an entire full- length work with producer and songwriter Jeremy Casella, along with a voluminous bandwagon of talent. Tracked at the storied Watershed Studio in south Nashville, the result is an album leaning toward café jazz but keeping deep roots in 60s songwriting.

Encompassing expansive sonic territory, the record isn’t afraid to wander into blue cocktail hours (“My Inflatable Heart”), gospel riversides (“Mercy,” “Come Home,” “Let It Rise”), ballad-style acoustic hymnody (“Maria’s Song”), and even the free rubato motion of a musical theatre sound (“Take Them Home”).

Hope’s personal perspective is the lyrical driver.

Despite swinging with heavy hitters in the studio, much of her time is spent as caregiver, homemaker, and overseer. The thrust of her lyricism, therefore, is encouragement, down to earth, an encouraging rebuttal against the dominance of creativity by the capitalist and ambitious.

With the various outward reaches into genres, Facing Eden can best be described as Americana in a liberated fashion, touching multiple styles born out of Hope’s NC roots.

FACING EDEN, with its emphasis on inward concerns, outward service, and Hope’s lyricism is monastic (n a very jubilant sense), delighting in the local, the personal, and the unsung.

(ADAM WHIPPLE, https://www.adamwhipple.com)

Hope Newman Kemp is a piano-driven songwriter, passion project maker, big band vocalist, and Grandma. She resides on 100 acres of NC farmland with her dentist husband Mark, and pup Mister Bingley.

hopekempmusic.com
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