SHEMEKIA COPELAND — Uncivil War (review)

SHEMEKIA COPELAND — Uncivil War album cover Album · 2020 · RnB Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
snobb
Shemekia Copeland is one among the brightest stars of modern blues in the states. Her music is deeply rooted in the blues tradition, but it sounds surprisingly fresh and modern at the same time. I'm a follower for some years, it's a bit pity that "Uncivil War" isn't as great as it could be.

Comparing it with her previous works, this album is faster, more groovy and significantly influenced by blues-rock. Shemekia's characteristic naïve but usually positivist lyrics are a question of taste, I don't really care much about it here. On the best numbers, her excellent vocals with lots of emotion is what takes listeners by storm. There are some truly exceptional guitarists on board, so songs like hot opener "Clotilda’s On Fire" or "Money Makes You Ugly" burn as hell. "Give God The Blues" is a clever reggae-ballade and "In The Dark" is dark night electric blues at it's best.

Main album's problem is that beside above mentioned strong numbers there are lot of fillers. Stones' "Under My Thumb" cover is probably the oddest one. Country scented "Uncivil War" and "Dirty Saint" aren't much better. Listening to this album again and again during the last few months, I just noticed that I'm listening actually to four or five songs from it on account of the others. It's still worth the attention because of its best songs.

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