Louise Cappi Releases “Hope” (SINGLE)

If you’ve frequented the New Orleans music scene any time recently, you’ve undoubtedly come across two people in your travels. One being Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, be he in snakeskin pants, behind a karaoke booth, or both, and two being the esteemed Louise Cappi. Some might recognize her surname as the same of New York’s jazz guitarist Al Cappi, who was her father — the talent doesn’t fall far from the tree it seems, as her music has been something to truly behold.

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Taking up residency at the Mahogany Jazz Hall in New Orleans, Cappi and her band Soul Xpo are New Orleans staples and her sound exemplifies just why they manage to pack the venue full every time. Within her debut album Melange, the sounds encountered are both deeply genuine and lived in. The genres scattered across the project’s nine songs range from your typical rock and blues to something entirely of its own from Cappi’s musical toolbox, and the album itself is something to revisit time and time again within its short yet dense tracklist.

With Melange seeing release in 2017, the years began to pass and Cappi understandably prioritized her live shows before committing to another LP. Thankfully, the past year has given her time off to recollect and put pen to paper — with her new single “Hope,” Louise Cappi is back… and with an album that shares the same name, there’s soon to be a great deal more than just one new song to enjoy. “Hope” is a fantastic continuation of the sounds explored on her debut LP while forging the new path ahead just the same.

The bluesy rock attitude is there but the lyrics offer up a sense of optimism in lieu of an often expected cynicism. There’s not a twinge of that trademark rock ’n’ roll irony in Cappi’s lyrics, as she instead opts for a bit of that “protest anthem” in the face of the depressing, contemptuous and maligned mindset that seems to lead the charge on modern rock. There’s nothing but boldly established cries for hope, not help, in the face of all adversity to be found in Cappi’s latest, and the change of pace from what the mainstream seems fully content to continue delivering is a brilliant breath of fresh air.

Hope as an album will undoubtedly follow suit from the lead single, as its cover proudly displays Louise Cappi in front of a street art mural of a butterfly and trumpet player as she holds a street sign that bears the album’s title across it — the cover and single hype the project up substantially, and there’s little to no doubt in my mind that Cappi and her band will deliver on the bold rollout for the homegrown beam of sunshine and positivity that will greet listeners in the form of Hope. There’s a lot to be said about Cappi’s own take on the last few years since Melange, and with a little patience we’ll soon be able to give Hope a listen — for now, though, the lead single “Hope” works wonders within my daily commute playlist and I’m sure the rest of the album will do the same.

Nicole Killian