Citizen Cope’s latest effort, ‘Every Waking Moment,’ presents unique lyrics and songwriting in ways that explores himself through intimacy, information and observation of the whole at large. His voice is straightforward and emotional without sounding whiny or predictable. If he were to sound like someone, it wouldn’t necessarily be anyone in particular, but it’s how he gives a face to the many people he sees from places he lived (Memphis, a small town in Texas, a year in Mississippi, D.C.). Citizen Cope doesn’t strike me as a self taught folk/rock songwriter/singer. I see him as an extremely talented and spiritual artist documenting everyday life using music to form this self-expression with vivid storytelling, in much the same way that a photojournalist uses a digital lens and shuttle boxes to record human existence.

‘Every Waking Moment’ breathes a universal and personal spirit. The opening song, “Back Together,” has a transfixed rock n’ soul acoustic feel of being your own friend. The title cut “Every Waking Moment,” spills a country Cajun inspirational, capturing a testament and multitude of questions of one’s continuation. The music recreates a Dr. John’s piano roll riff with a slow and brassy blues horn section. In “Friend Fire,” his lyrics read like a commentator on the evening news. This song compels similar circumstances in a separate world -- a solider shot in a war or someone gunned down in our community. As I listened to these two tracks I couldn’t help but think about such a story and other recent events that compel me to feel valued. Some of the tracks in ‘Every Waking Moment’ echo political and social themes that sound neither preachy nor unsurprising. The sincerity of Citizen Cope’s lyrics expose truth with thought provoking prose, but it doesn’t stop there. His self-produced CD shifts from universal awareness to slow/mid-tempo ballads in “More Than It Seems”, “107º”, “Somehow” and the catchy “All Dressed Up” where love finds its way, in a record that extends every vehicle and fabric in his lyrics with humility and candor.