David Hopkins - Overlook
David Hopkins is an Irish singer/songwriter, originally from Dublin, currently living in the United States. He was the original keyboard player for the Irish alternative rock band Lir. He also toured with The Who in 2001, playing keyboards during their Quadrophenia Tour. Hopkins' songs found a larger audience through wide-release motion pictures such as Paris Hilton's The Hottie and the Nottie, Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj, Speed Dating, and The Year of Getting to Know Us, starring Jimmy Fallon, Lucy Liu and Sharon Stone. Hopkins performed his solo material with Damien Rice, The Frames, Lindsey Stirling, Jeff Buckley, Sinéad O'Connor, Bell X1 among others.
His latest album Overlook is described by Hopkins himself as " the most honest record I have made to date. I had always worked on albums where I had to compromise. I did whatever I wanted to do with this album."
The album opens with an instrumental composition A Small German that sets the intimate tone for the whole album. A nostalgic vibe takes us back in time. And make us reflect our own lives.
C'est La introduces the psychedelic flavour into the music and you can vividly see the bright colours of the images when you close your eyes and dive into these sounds.
The Spirit Song starts with a delightful acoustic guitar, the whispering vocal draws us into the story of a lover who's gone but the singer is feeling an overwhelming sense of loss, sadness and perhaps guilt. The french horn only elevates the feeling. Is there any resolution to this? we're not sure even long after the song ends.
Let Somebody Inside would be the highlight eventhough choosing just one proves quite difficult in this case. A haunting ballad with deep lyrics such as "i've been seeing shadows in the light of day, you can question everything I am, everything I say..."
Overlook seems to be exploring all layers of emotions (Who Am I, What Are We) as well as genres (we highlight Irresponsible with its Latino twist and R&B in When I DO It With You).
You can listen to this album a hundred times and think you've heard it all. But everytime you press play you'll discover something new, different, exciting.