Jackie Cane: a starlet, an ingenue, a woman all used up. A character so compelling, so unique, that an entire album was created to tell her story. Anyways, that’s what Hooverphonic would have you believe; Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane was a concept album that owes its life to this one song, off 2000’s The Magnificent Tree. At first blush, the song doesn’t seem to paint that compelling a portrait; it’s a pretty basic tale of a woman used and abused by those who exploited her talents. Take a closer look, and you’ll find… well, you’ll find your first impressions were correct. But Hooverphonic’s strength has never been in its lyrics but in its sound, and “Jackie Cane” was one of the more lively tracks on The Magnificent Tree. Perhaps that was the reason why Ms. Cane got an entire album devoted to her; she was evidence that Hooverphonic hadn’t lost their vitality beneath layers of production.

So when Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane came along, we were given a more complete story. More than that, we were given a musical chronicling her life, full of horns and strings and explosions and drama. But perhaps Jackie Cane was never meant for the grand life; for all its energy and verve, Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane often feels like an exercise, every bit as staged as a Broadway musical, every bit as fake as Jackie Cane herself. Better to remember her as a vaguely sketched mystery, before she became Hooverphonic’s muse.