Music Review // Happie Hoffman "All I Needed (Summertime Mix)"

There are few artists out there who have ever really captured the sound which Happie Hoffman displays on "All I Needed".   Somewhere along the lines of Corinne Bailey Rae, this song could be heard in a coffee shop but isn't quite the same type of pop jazz that one might think of in that sense.   Artists such as Macy Gray and Norah Jones come to mind but this really has such a unique sound.

The vocals come through, almost whispered, with keys and it just has that sound which you want to sing along with the first time you're hearing it.   This song has the hook of: "No I don't need advice or direction / All I needed was love and attention"  I think this is a good point for a love song to make- which many other songs don't seem to make- because sometimes we just wanted to be loved for who we are and not who someone else thinks we should be.

While in a relationship with someone else- whether it be family, romantic, friendship, etc- sometimes you just want someone to be there to have your back.   Yes, advice can be good at the right time, but sometimes we don't always need to hear about how we're screwing up our lives (Many people don't learn unless they do it themselves) and we just need someone there to pick us up when we fall (not so much warn us when we're about to fall, even though that is good too, just we're not always going to listen)

Ultimately I like to think of this as being a deep pop song.  It doesn't have anything about it that would make someone hear it and want it turned off, so it appeals to mainstream in that way.   You could have it playing and you could even sing along without really thinking about it, but if you do listen to the lyrics and take the time to explore them and consider the feelings of others based upon them, well, it might just make the world a better place.