Citizen Cope: Every Waking Moment : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Clarence Greenwood has made a name for himself blending hip-hop, rock and R&B into songs that have as much in common with singer-songwriters like Jack Johnson as, say, Beck. Every Waking Moment keeps up Cope's organic-feeling brew with more haziness than usual, outfitting beat-driven soundscapes with sunbaked melodies, soul snippets and assorted flotsam. His lyrics sometimes vague out worse than the music, with earlier records' character sketches replaced by duller introspection amid tunes that veer toward shapelessness. But oftentimes his woozy soul jams are seductive and then some: The cascading "Friendly Fire" sounds like TV on the Radio produced by Phil Spector; "Somehow" tosses a druggy yet affecting Stevie Wonder-like tune over slo-mo arpeggios; and Greenwood switches things up with the Latin-funk jam "Awe." And the world-wise determination in Greenwood's lisping voice on cuts like "107¡" helps keep his modest adventures in sound grounded.