Janiva Magness - Love Is An Army (2018)

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Janiva Magness released her first album in 1997, but it took her nearly two decades until she snagged a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2016. The nod was for Love Wins Again, her first record for Blue Élan and fifth collaboration with producer Dave Darling, with whom she has an easy, natural chemistry. Love Is an Army, her 2018 sequel to Love Wins Again, illustrates that for however easy her rapport with Darling is, it is hardly lazy. Like its predecessor, Love Is an Army is rooted in Southern soul-blues -- the opening "Back to Blue" is a proud throwback to the classic sound of Stax Records -- but Magness adds new dimensions to this blueprint. Notably, there's a strong country undercurrent that runs through the album, first surfacing on "On and On" -- a steady-rolling number featuring Poco's Rusty Young on pedal steel -- but reappearing on the title track and the fragile "Down Below." When paired with the adventurous blues that pops up elsewhere -- "Home" is a fuzz-drenched gospel number, "Hammer" is densely funky yet finds a spot for Charlie Musselwhite -- this Americana turns Love Is an Army into a rich, rewarding affair that betters its fine predecessor.