After a twenty-seven-year career and eighteen albums on their back, the prolific American band Misty Blues comes back to the scene with their latest release, “Still Ticking”. True to their name, the band led by singer Gina Coleman proves that their engine is still running, delivering a collection of songs that move comfortably within the familiar roads of blues and roots music. However, despite their unquestionable technical strength and the experience gathered with a more than a respectable career, the album suffers a lack of a bright spark and the ability to surprise, falling into a purely routinary recording.

Throughout the record, tracks like “State of the Union”, “Trifling Man”, or “Battle Cry” are developed on a predictable way, following harmonic structures and rhythms that any blues lover has heard countless times before. Coleman’s vocals, though deep and seasoned, settle into a performance that sometimes feels somewhat flat, lacking the emotional degree or the raw grit that usually appears in great blues recordings. The sax and keys instrumental arrangements are neatly developed and do a good work, although they never dare to break the mold or take risks with passages that could wake the listener up and make them feel a catching groove.

An album where the musician’s performance is flawless with a crystal clean production too, but that commits one of the worse musical sins: the absolute insignificance.