Whilst there are parallels between the novel’s heroine Jane Start and its author – they’re both female musicians in a male dominated industry – Hoffs own career is a world away from that of her literary creation, an on the ropes one-hit wonder, achieving fame with a Song that was written for her, hoping to find an artistic renaissance.

Hoffs is as much a master at writing her own songs as she is at interpreting others. When The Bangles were given a tape of “Manic Monday” by Prince, written under the pseudonym of ‘Christopher’, his expectation was they’d keep his backing track and add vocals, but The Bangles recorded their own version, which was to prove their breakthrough, followed by an array of hits including the ageless “Eternal Flame” – which remains to this day to be an absolute banger.

When we meet on Zoom, Hoffs is at home in L.A., and she asks how I am and what the weather is like London. When I tell her it’s sunny for a change, she mock-laments. “It’s been shit here, just pure rain. It’s been the longest period of months on end of rain. It’s the opposite of what California normally is.”

The outlook for Hoffs novel is the opposite to the weather in California, with the film rights to This Bird Has Flown snapped up by Universal Studios before it was published. “I wrote the script and I got my script in long before the writer’s strike. It was so fun. I love writing about Britain and the vibe there. I think it was The Beatles coming to L.A. in 1964 that made me a lifelong lover of the British Invasion, then and always. I love the sounds that come out of your country.”

Hoffs musical family tree is one of the most extensive in pop music. After The Bangles initial split, she was part of Ming Tea, the house band for the Austin Powers films, where she appeared under the pseudonym of Gillian Shagwell, alongside Mike Myers and Matthew Sweet, with whom she would release three covers albums.
As well as a writing career, she’s still balancing her solo work, her fifth album, The Deep End, was released earlier year, with even more collaborations, appearing on Rufus Wainwright’s Folkocracy.

“I love Rufus. I sang on his cover of “Twelve-Thirty”, a song by Mamas and Papas, and Sheryl Crow and Chris Stills are on it. It’s really cool” she explains, “I’m going to be doing a few events with him. I loved working with him. His voice is otherworldly. It’s one of those iconic voices that you know it’s him the second you hear it.”

And there are more collaborations on the way. When I tell her the first Bangles song I heard was “James”, a brilliant slice of jangle from their debut All Over the Place, Hoffs explains a link to a song recorded with Elvis Costello for the Deep End sessions, that she hopes to release as part of an upcoming EP.

“The Bangles signed to Columbia and word got back to us about Elvis Costello really liking “James”. During the pandemic, I was very busy making stuff. I was working on my novel, I was recording The Deep End with Peter Asher producing. Elvis came to the studio, and we sang a duet on The Rolling Stones song “Connection.” I did the Keith part. We both wanted to do the Keith part, but I won!”

As we come to her Nine Songs choices, Hoffs tells me she initially selected 10 songs, and when I tell her we have to stick to nine, she laughs and says, “You’re really strict!” Talking to Hoffs about her choices is a delight, taking in stories from her life, of teaching herself to sing by singing along to Dionne Warwick and Joni Mitchell as a child and her first band with the late David Roback. At one point, her reflections on Big Star merge into a Teenage Fanclub song that she loves.

Listening to music a ritual for Hoffs, she starts each day by listening to “Let’s Go Crazy”, but more than that she views music as a magical force, as a drug, a means to find joy.

“When I approached this, I knew that it’s a torturous exercise, because if you love music, you love way more than nine songs, you know? You could just do nine Beatles songs if you wanted. So it was difficult, but here goes.”