LimeWire Music Blog

2009 is looking to be rather adventurous and prolific for ’90s dream-pop singer Hope Sandoval.  A refreshing change from almost a decade’s worth of silence, Sandoval will appear as a guest vocalist on Massive Attack’s upcoming full-length.  More importantly, Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions, the hazy, folky group formed at the turn of the century, will release their long, long, LONG awaited sophomore record, Through the Devil Softly, on September 29th (preview a free track from the album here).

Though this flurry of activity is most exciting, I’m still clutching to Sandoval’s ’90s work with the psychedelic Mazzy Star. One of my favorite groups from my adolescence, Mazzy Star formed from the wake of Opal, a similarly styled project led by guitarist Dave Roback.  After replacing vocalist Kendra Smith in Opal, the band switched names, keeping their melancholic sound intact for three solid records. 

My favorite of the lot is their 1990 debut, She Hangs Brightly.  Though the record didn’t fare as well as their sophomore effort, So Tonight That I Might See (led primarily by the then-ubiquitous and romantic “Fade Into You“), She Hangs Brightly still boasted its fair share of standout tracks, including the shimmering “Halah,” the druggy “Ghost Highway,” and this particular number, an updated take on Slapp Happy’s “Blue Flower,” which outdoes the original with sheer beauty and presence.  Here’s a live version plucked from the band’s heyday, for your early-Autumn viewing pleasure.