Think Gwen Stefani meets Ingrid Michaelson -- Jesca Hoop's debut album hearkens back to the earliest forms of aural cadence, culminating unique styles along the way. From electronica to folk to today's acoustics, Hoop's first record is strikingly unique.

When I dialed the cell phone of Jesca Hoop (which, as I found out, is actually pronounced "hope") last week I expected a number of things -- the possibility of getting an agent or manager answering and playing middleman or the chance of sharing a conversation with an "I-play-awesome-music-so-I'm-too-busy-and-much-to-cool-to-chat-with-you" kind of pop star, to name a few.

Instead, I heard the fresh, friendly voice of a 32-year-old, climbing into her car so I could hear her better against the crashing of California waves. A bit of small talk later (she had yogurt, pomegranate seeds, an Asian pear and a cup of tea for breakfast this morning), and I immediately knew what to expect from Jesca -- a lovely, picturesque person with big thoughts on life and the ability to share them via pleasantly inventive, jazzy pop music.

I asked Jesca her age right away, because after a brief glance at the biography listed on her Web page I noticed a long list of renowned rockers (for example, Stewart Copeland). Making Kismet, Hoop collaborated with a wide range of musical talent, and I wanted to know just how she got hooked up with such celebrated personalities:

It's a small town, you know? I was introduced to Copeland through a writing project. Tony Burke is a friend and asked him to participate, and he brought in a lot of the other people to the project. Patrick Warren and a lot of other musicians came in through Tony's network, him having been making music for years and years.

I read that you grew up in a Mormon family (where your music career really started) and eventually landed a job as nanny to Tom Waits's kids -- can you fill in the spaces in between?

I was always more of a songwriter by nature and never by profession... When I was 28 I was doing all sorts of things to sustain my living -- construction, farming, surveying, gardening, working with autistic people, serving coffee -- anything that sparked my interest and could increase my skill set. All the while I wrote songs for myself and my own enjoyment. I soon decided I wanted to write songs for a living and passed some songs onto Tom. He heard something in the music and thought I was good enough to be passed around to Lionel Conway and eventually Nick Harcourt. The station has since taken me in.

So before you know it Nick Harcourt is playing your stuff live! From what I know, radio DJs very rarely pick up a song and give it airtime (however deserving an artist may be). What was that experience like for you, going from hearing your songs as they came in the comfort of your room, kitchen, garage to hearing them come out of radio speakers of your car radio?

I haven't actually ever heard my songs on the radio... and the fact that other people have is surprising to me. I did hear some stuff in a store recently -- it's a really great feeling, and that's the idea. It's so great when you apply yourself to an idea and see the fruits of your work later. At the time, I didn't know who [Harcourt] was when he called -- he had demos but didn't have any info on me. He called when I was asleep in my van, 9:00 in the morning, and had to explain to me who he was. Apparently he had been playing one of my songs and people were calling in asking about me. From that point, the ground seemed fertile in Los Angeles, so I moved to L.A. to see the action.

Shortly afterward, Kismet arrived.

What is your history with the term "Kismet"? Where did you hear it first and when/how did you know it was going to be the title of your debut album?

It was a newer word to me; someone used it in the context of a random convo and said it would make a good album title. I wasn't quite sure it fit, but while going through the process of deciding a name, my mother became sick with cancer. Things were looking questionable what road she would take, and I named the record as a question -- not of my own fate, more to do with my mother's.

You list some of the earliest forms of sound as your influences. I love that you have such a deep knowledge of music and a wide range of interest to list styles ranging from chamber music and slave songs to pop radio and rock and roll. Can you talk more about your influences?

I love chamber music -- I appreciate any music that utilizes the voice as its primary function of communication... all the blending of merry voices together, the kind of tenors that I was trained in as a chamber singer in my teenage years. I have an affinity for harmonies and singing in numbers. In addition, older country music -- gospel, blues, slave songs, etc. -- the way the voice is used is really raw. The way early blues performed their music is so candid and unpolished; it's more about the emotion, the subject matter, rather than training the voice.

What genre(s) of music do you classify yours into? What genres do you dislike your music being classified into?

It's pop music if you ask me -- as in fitting into the terms of popular taste -- not that related to bubble gum. It fits along with broad ideas that lots of people can appreciate. But I really don't have one genre that it could fit into specifically. I just follow wherever the creative course takes me. I like to mix and match from different music worlds, going from genre to genre, and it can be very spontaneous.

Not only does your album combine a wide range of musical styles, but it covers a broad amount of important topics, from the transcendence from childhood to adulthood, to commercialism of the music industry (one of my personal favorites), to the post-Katrina world, to the less focused but equally important issues of life and love.

I think a song has to have a purpose in order for it to be worthwhile to record, even if that purpose is just fun; fun is a purpose in itself. If a song doesn't offer anything it's not worth recording. I'm particularly fond of the intimate stories -- Enemy and Dreams In The Hollow -- they are very personal and I like songs that give away something insightful. But I like them all, ones on the record and off. I like them all for different reasons because they are all very different from each other, but I love singing Seed Of Wonder to people and I love singing and playing Money -- it is really fun to perform live.

This is your first album. In one word or 489023 words: how would you describe the overall experience?

Natural. It was just natural, just the way life goes, ya know.

So there you have it. The down low on a girl who loves to cook (anything that tastes good and preferably with food she's gardened for herself), can't stand compulsive talkers, wants to visit Africa but knows that there's no place like home, and almost always chooses the Shoe when she starts a game of Monopoly.

Additional Tracks:
Summertime
Intelligentactile 101