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Artists change; their artistry evolves over time. Some chart a path that\u2019s consistent; others follow a progression that\u2019s better described as linear. Others bounce around from style to style, with the path only clear when it\u2019s viewed in retrospect.<\/p>\n
Ana Popovi\u0107<\/a> (previously interviewed on Musoscribe here<\/a> and here<\/a>) got her start as a blues guitar shredder. More than two decades ago when she made her solo debut with Hush!<\/i>, listeners were presented with a fiery guitarist who could sing, and who had undeniably arresting visual character. Let\u2019s just say that Ana Popovi\u0107<\/a> doesn\u2019t look like your standard-issue blues guitarist, and that her spiky heels and slinky outfits leverage her assets in that regard.<\/p>\n But Popovi\u0107<\/a> has done a commendable job of establishing and maintaining her bona fides as a blues practitioner. Close your eyes if you must, and you can appreciate her expressive musical qualities.<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t always been blues, though; her 2016 set Trilogy<\/i> explored other styles (including hip hop[!]), and Popovi\u0107<\/a> sounds increasingly comfortable embarking upon these musical excursions. Now in 2023, Power<\/i> threatens to use the blues as little more than a foundational touchstone; the music has more to do with r&b, soul and pop than anything else.<\/p>\n Blues purists (aka the Blues Police) forsook the Serbian- born and -raised Popovi\u0107<\/a> (if they ever accepted her at all) long ago. Power<\/i> isn\u2019t likely to win them back, but the loss is theirs. Taken for what it is, Popovi\u0107<\/a>\u2019s latest release is a modern collection of songcraft, with fiery blues-inspired guitar work at its core. Here solos fit seamlessly into the big, brassy (metaphorically and otherwise) arrangements, and her vocals bear little if any trace of her Eastern European language inflections.<\/p>\n