Citizen Cope ‘One Lovely Day’ – Song Review

Amy Sussman, Getty Images

Citizen Cope‘s ‘One Lovely Day’ isn’t exactly a new song — he’s been playing it live since at least 2010, if YouTube footage is to be believed — but it apparently never has been recorded before now, and it will be featured on the soundtrack to the forthcoming flick ‘Battleship.’ That movie, a sci-fi action film based on the board game of the same name, hits theaters this Friday (May 18).

The crunchy, feel-good jam ‘One Lovely Day’ doesn’t veer too far from Cope’s wheelhouse, but it does further his development as a groove-laden nuevo-hippie in the shadow of similar artists like Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews. Cope — aka Clarence Greenwood — cut his teeth as a DJ spinning for the Washington D.C.-based hip-hop collective Basehead before establishing a name for himself with his self-titled 2002 album. That disc was an eclectic platter of hip-hop and folk, soul and blues — and he’s been impressively mixing and matching genres since.

‘One Lovely Day’ is also the name of Citizen Cope’s in-the-works next album, and if this track is any indication of what to expect from the rest of the disc, fans are in for a real treat. Kicking off with his smooth, soulful voice over straight forward guitar strumming, ‘Cope’ slowly transforms from a sparse singer-songwriter ditty into a full-blown mid-tempo rock ballad deserving of being played as the credits roll at the end of big-budget Hollywood flick — whether it actually soundtracks the ‘Battleship’ credits or not.

Listen to Citizen Cope’s ‘One Lovely Day’