Over the course of five "official" albums, His Name Is Alive has been through a number of stylistic changes. When you consider that the band's leader, the mind-bogglingly prolific Warn (nee Warren) Defever, has had plenty of opportunity to experiment on dozens of self-released albums, this evolution doesn't seem quite so surprising. This time out, Defever and his cohort, Lovetta Pippen (whose stunning voice really shines here), explore blues in much the way that they deconstructed soul on 1998's FT. LAKE.
An abbreviated run-through of the Ellington/Fitzgerald classic "Solitude," replete with artificial vinyl pops and scratches, leads into "Write My Name in the Groove," the album's sonically massive but spacious-sounding masterpiece. Centered around Pippen's riveting, emotive voice and accompanied by pulsing beats and crystalline piano, the track sets up musical themes that echo throughout the album. Also of note is "Are We Still Married?" (reprised here from 1991's HOME IS IN THE HEAD) which swaps the original version's glittering electronic sparseness for a full-bodied gravity anchored by acoustic guitar, violin, and piano backing. An object lesson in sonic sculpture, SOMEDAY is a modern blues manifesto and the band's finest record to date.