Review: Copeland – Blushing

Copeland - Blushing

Love is weird, messy, complicated. I know I’m not saying anything incredibly new or profound – we’ve all experienced the whirlwind of falling in and out of love. And sometimes at such an intensity that it feels like you’re dreaming. Copeland’s sixth album, Blushing, explores that sensation thoroughly and almost immediately on the album’s startling opener, “Pope.” Vocalist Aaron Marsh pleads, “Will you be my love?/Until I can prove that this world is not real,” over a swirling cacophony of swirling strings, programming, and more. Suddenly everything drops – it’s just distant piano keys and a women’s hushed voice. Without warning, it’s over. The track is a brilliant juxtaposition between the beginning of a relationship (“Did you dream about anything last night?” is something said during the beginning or good times of a relationship because you want to know everything about your partner) and the end of a relationship (“Hey, hey, are you awake? You should probably get up and get going. I don’t want to be rushed”) – when the women’s voice appears it’s jarring because it’s so comforting, reminding you of that good place you were once at but ultimately it’s a devastating reminder that it’s over.

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Review: Copeland – Ixora

Copeland - Ixora

I think my biggest draw to music is the emotion it pulls from me when listening to a great song. That feeling where you experience the song with the entirety of your being. Everything fades away and all that matters in that moment is the space between notes, ears, and heart. Copeland’s upcoming album, Ixora, embodies everything I search for in music.

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Review: Copeland – Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Copeland - Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Every so often, a band comes into the music scene and establishes an enigmatic relationship with their fans. Not in a Radiohead-esque way, but they look just a little bit deeper than everyone else and their fans grow fiercely loyal, just as the haters ruthlessly defend their feelings. Copeland is one of those bands. Three original studio albums into their career on The Militia Group, each has been an exercise in creativity, expansive songwriting, and flamboyant musical excess. Eat, Sleep, Repeat, despite its mundane title, is the pinnacle of the band’s career so far, and both sides of the scene will be coming to blows for years over this CD. 

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Review: Copeland – In Motion

Copeland - In Motion

Growing up in the suburbs of Oregon I spent most of my youth outside entertaining my hyperactive mind with all sorts of daily activities. I remember spending countless hours running through grass fields and spinning around in circles staring straight up towards all the spiral-pouring raindrops. Copeland’s new full-length album, In Motion, brings to head all of these nostalgic thoughts as their sonic wave invades my speakers. (Cheesy lines are all I have sometimes ..)

Being a huge fan of the band’s last album and their cover’s EP: there was more than a little anticipation running through my blood. Remarkably, I was not let down by the perfect combination of their full-length’s slower melodic styled songs and their EP’s slightly edgier rock-pop songs. It seems that only a few weeks ago all of us on the website were debating which bands have what it takes to take on a sort of “iconic” status later in our lives, years from now when all of us are old and grey. The irony is how quickly we may have just been answered …

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