Time after time, artists have struggled to shoehorn heady concepts into their albums, cramming in overly academic stories and heady musical themes in the name of establishing some kind of creative continuity. On
One Lovely Day, however,
Citizen Cope (aka Clarence Greenwood) manages to make something best described as a non-concept concept album, evoking the lazy, laid-back warmth of a summer day on track after track of his fifth album. Though not a concept album in the actual sense, the album's strong musical themes make it easy to imagine yourself listening to it on your front porch on a sweltering day, with songs like the titular track playing in the background as the neighborhood goes about its business in slow motion. While the album still features the hip-hop-influenced backbone that Greenwood's fans have come to expect, the album seems to be more interested in languid, earnest R&B and sunny,
Jack Johnson-esque slacker pop, giving the album a throughly chilled-out vibe with just enough rhythm and swagger to keep things moving forward at a steady, but breezy, pace. It's this kind of mellow eclecticism that has helped Greenwood to develop such a devoted following, and it's his music's sticky, molasses-like sweetness that keeps those fans coming back for more and more. All in all,
One Lovely Day is an album that Citizen Cope fans are going to want to dive right into, and those who might just be coming across the songwriter's work for the first time might stumble onto their new favorite summer record.
