Album Details

• Artist: Copeland
• Album: You Are My Sunshine
• Label: The Militia Group
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: lekwon on 2008-10-13

You Are My Sunshine comes full circle. Beneath the Medicine Tree introduced the world to a personality with slow and breathy gems. In Motion began to walk on an edgier yet friendlier path. Eat, Sleep, Repeat ultimately brought closure to the journey that contained so much brooding and internal struggles. So, what had to come next for Copeland? As the band clearly demonstrates in their latest first single “The Grey Man,” “you run right back to the start”…only this time, you shine with confidence and optimism.

The album is artsy and the album is gutsy. The tracks are delightfully sprinkled with big drumbeats woven with lonely guitar wails, all layered over sleepy distortion. Then there is the crucial contribution of Aaron Marsh, one of the most delicate crooners of this era. There is so much strength in his finely threaded singing, powerful enough to smooth the roughened edges of any previous foreboding gray clouds. Marsh also stays in a falsetto range for an impressive amount of time on this album, the goose bumps growing bigger with each breathy note held at such a beautiful pitch.

It is almost impossible to find anything wrong with You Are My Sunshine. The only gripe would be that the percussion can seem mechanic and can thus flaw the greatly personal factor behind this album, but even this blemish is completely overlooked in songs such as “Good Morning Fire Eater,” where Marsh’s voice becomes the most beautiful and intimate instrument that one could ever wish to play. Copeland has always been a gentle band, hovering safely yet boldly over the line between saccharine and stormy. At the same time, they have constantly shown us that they are composed of many musical layers. You Are My Sunshine is Copeland’s homecoming, a long-lasting celebration of emotional depth and a summation of all the directions that they have mastered. 

User Reviews and Comments

on 2008-10-23 mountaloha Said:

This album was almost exactly what I wanted to hear from Copeland. Sure, a track like Walking Downtown would have been awesome, but that didn't happen. The only gripe I have is the ten minute long "Not So Tough Found Out". I don't know about anyone else, but it was a bore. No significant moments from that song, but enough complaining. The highlight for me has to be "On The Safest Ledge". The lyrics are amazing, and all the instruments come into play at just the right times. Once again, I am in no way disappointed by Copeland.
Rating: 9/10