The Spirit of Hopkins

'Shipwrecked' is a two disc [Port: disc 1] and [Starboard: disc 2] underwater blues journey focusing on real life shipwrecks mixed with the artist's childhood memories of growing up in a New England seaside town, where 'shipwreck' serves as a metaphor for life's journey into unknown waters. Many of the instruments were hand built from bits of metal and wood to create the sounds of a ship's rigging, while Sandy herself presides over a huge antique Harmonium, which serves as the mother ship driving the music throughout the 29 song cycle, which Sandy terms as: 'sonic cinema'.
With production by Michael J Sheehy and long time guitarist Ray Majors, highlights from the Port side[tracks 1-14] feature string arrangements by Fiona Brice, the Smoke Fairy's ghostly vocals as 'The Sirens", and Robert aka Larry Love [Alabama 3] performing a waltz from the ocean floor in 'The Alice' telling the true story of the Great Storm of 1888 which draws a parallel from the devastation of seven schooners on the beach at Nantasket, Mass., to Jack the Ripper's blood filled streets in Whitechapel, London. The fifteen tracks on the 'Starboard 'side, [tracks 15-29], begin with the sinister blues wailings of drunken sailors still thought to haunt the famous rocks locally known as 'Harding's Ledge', goes on to tell the tale of the Marblehead Man who was unjustly tarred and feathered in 1808, recounts the story of Sandy's relative, Mayflower pilgrim and survivor of the Sea Venture Stephen Hopkins, sails into deeper water to 91 years old guest vocalist Murray Campbell's rendition of Old English Music Hall, crashing headlong into The Grampus Rocks to the sinister tricks the ocean herself plays on mankind in 'Tidal Wave" and ends with the whole journey's Epilogue: a wild demon like spoken word live performance of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Wreck Of The Hesperus" recorded at London's Abbey Rd studios with Sandy pounding out the ocean's waves on a grand piano. 'Shipwrecked' also contains two "buried treasure" tracks with some surprising guests from Sandy's past, notably, a duet with the late bassist Jaco Pastorius recorded live in New York in the 1980's. Four years in the making, Shipwrecked showcases the two sides of Sandy's unique style : from hauntingly innocent tones, to her succubus, raw edged 'gargled with razor blades' blues roots.