Gina Sicilia - Unchange (2022)

For her 10th album, Unchange, Gina Sicilia has returned to the VizzTone Label Group, where she established herself as a commanding singer and songwriter rooted in but not limited to the blues. It quickly becomes clear that this return is not a retreat. The 10-song set reveals an artist who is still challenging herself to move forward, staying true to her vision without repeating herself.

After teaming up with Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars for 2020’s Love Me Madly, the Nashville-based Sicilia has recruited the services of Music City guitar ace Colin Linden, who produced the album and had a hand in writing five of the songs, and leads a guitar-bass-drums trio with occasional keyboard touches.

The result is one of Sicilia’s most spare-sounding recordings and one that doesn’t sound quite like anything she’s done before. That approach puts the focus squarely on the singer, which is not a problem since Sicilia’s smokey alto has always been one of the most striking voices in the roots field, and her ability to harness its power lends maximum emotional impact to her performances.

Sicilia has always augmented that voice with her abilities as a writer. Here, however, she wrote just one number. “One Last Tender Moment,” with its acoustic picking, piano, and touch of organ, is a pleading ballad with a torch-song quality that also turns up in “Valentine” – just acoustic guitar and bass – and “Let’s Set the World on Fire,” which features an electric guitar solo by Linden that provides a lot of heat.

On “Don ‘t Be Afraid to Be Wrong,” Sicilia imparts some life advice with a bluesy kick. She didn’t write the song – Linden and Janice Powers did – but it sounds like advice she has taken to heart herself. She also heightens the dread at the heart of the Rev. Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” which takes on heightened resonance in these times and features another penetrating guitar solo by Linden.

One of the key musical and thematic styles of Unchange is gospel. The album begins with “Healing Time,” whose soothing message is delivered with some swampy reverb and the heavenly backup vocals of Ann and Regina McCrary. (The sisters also sing on the traditional “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor,” arranged by Linden and Sicilia.) Sicilia also tackles Shirley Caesar’s “How Far Am I From Canaan,” which starts out slow and quiet before accelerating into a glorious romp. And the album closes with the traditional “There’s a Bright Side Somewhere,” arranged by Sicilia. “I’m not going to rest until I find it,” she vows.

As with the title song, written by Linden and Powers and featuring the refrain “I can’t unchange,” the pursuit at the heart of “There’s a Bright Side Somewhere” can also refer to the drive of an artist who is determined to keep pushing herself.