Hooverphonic: back back back!

If you happen to be in Brussels 29 or 30 January do try and catch the latest incarnation of Belgian band Hooverphonic live at AB Brussels. Bernardo Bertolucci picked up early single 2Wicky for inclusion on the soundtrack of Stealing Beauty in 1996 and the band have now recorded seven albums.

I interviewed main man Alex Callier for a feature in a Belgium-themed issue of Little White Lies just before lead singer Geike Arnaert quit to go solo (journalist's curse). Now they're back with a new frontwoman, Noémie Wolfs, and an excellent album, The Night Before. While the group's original trip-hop roots had evolved into a more wildly experimental, psychedelic sound for previous album The President of the LSD Golf Club (2007), they've reverted to the big, 1960s sound they'd developed for hits like The World is Mine, from the Jackie Cane concept album (2002).

Wolfs sounds unnervingly like Sophie Ellis-Bextor on stand-out track Anger Never Dies, while her voice really opens out elsewhere, betraying her admiration for Minnie Ripperton. The album has gone platinum in Belgium and features a track co-written with Cathy Dennis, who had previously collaborated on Jackie Cane.

Three Belgian bands recommended by Hooverphonic's Alex Callier

Alex Callier is the songwriter and mainstay of Belgium's Hooverphonic. They've released six studio albums since 1996 and deserve to have a greater following on this side of the Channel. Unfortunately, late last year, lead singer Geike Arnaert announced she was leaving the group to go solo.

"The Go Find – it's very intimate music but I really like the tunes. They make very nice, moody music; their second album [Stars On The Wall (2007)] is really beautiful.

"Goose is a bit more electronic, they have a couple of cool tracks on their first album [Bring It On (2006)].

"The first three albums [I'm Seeking Something That Has Already Found Me (1996), This Last Warm Solitude (1998) and Birthmarks (2001)] of Ozark Henry – the name comes from a movie – are really good, very filmic."