Emanuel Casablanca
By Mike O’Cull
Brooklyn-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter Emanuel Casablanca delivers commanding, artistic blues music on his debut album Blood On My Hands.
The record hits the streets August 19th, 2022 on the Kings County Blues label and shows Casablanca to be a formidable talent with a sound and vision unlike any of his peers. His songs, guitar work, and lyrics will bring you to a dead stop and demand they be allowed to crawl inside your headphones. Casablanca mixes the blues, rock, psychedelia, and poetry in an intensely personal manner that you’ve not likely encountered before. More than just another shuffle monster, he takes us far afield into new worlds of his own invention.
Casablanca and Paul Howells co-produced Blood On My Hands and unleashed a shot over the bow from an emerging artist who isn’t here to play paint-by-numbers blues. The set also features wonderful cameos from dignitaries including guitar heroes Eric Gales, Paul Gilbert, and Albert Castiglia, sax man Jimmy Carpenter, and vocalist Kat Riggins.
Emanuel Casablanca is a top-tier musician who has already worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. He’s been tight with bassist and producer Bill Laswell, drummer Dax Nielsen of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honorees Cheap Trick, vocalist Bernard Fowler of The Rolling Stones’ touring lineup, bassist Doug Wimbish of Grammy Award winners Living Colour, and many others. Casablanca has also become an important festival attraction in his own right, gracing stages at Isle of Wight, South By Southwest, North By Northeast, Berlin Music Week, and Kommune 2010. He’s a master of lyricism, sound, and emotion who is about to show the world just how good he really is.
From the stormy first moments of the opening cut “Afraid Of Blood,” it’s clear that this record is going to a wild ride. The song instantly sets your mind loose on an undulating psychedelic ocean of untamed guitars and lilting, ghostly vocals. Casablanca uses his instrument almost like a white noise generator, filling the track wall-to-wall with grinding sonic excitement. It’s a brave and modern way to kick off a debut album but Casablanca works it like a boss.
Watch “In Blood feat. Paul Gilbert”
“In Blood” is a slow, mournful blues that sports a guest spot from guitar ace Paul Gilbert. Gilbert applies his signature high-octane guitar style to this brooding song but the real star of this one is Casablanca’s haunting words and vocals. The despair in him feels all too real and the distanced, disassociated way he sings carries the weight of someone who is ready to walk off and not come back. It’s a bone-chilling experience in the best way possible and more proof of Emanuel’s talent level.
Eric Gales shows up to raise the bet on Casablanca’s title song “Blood On My Hands.” It’s a chugging, single-chord jam that tells of a perpetrator who has committed unspeakable crimes. Casablanca taps into the frightening side of the blues more than most contemporary artists and does so quite convincingly. He uses the Robert Johnson Hellhound tradition in his own way and it makes him stand out. Gales is god-like, as he always is.
“Bloodshot Eyes” is a simmering cauldron on the verge of a boil-over. It starts down low but builds to short, explosive sections that feel rage-filled and all too human. Albert Castiglia guests on it and hearing these two play together is extra cool. Once again, Casablanca takes us to his dark side with his lyrics and makes us believe.
Blood On My Hands is a long album full of extraordinary moments. Casablanca uses different guitar tones and vocal mannerisms than anyone out there and they elevate his style into something golden and cliche-free. Don’t miss winners like the upbeat rocker “Testify,” the hypnotic “My Nerves,” and the hard-edged trance anthem “Shaky Tables.” Emanuel Casablanca is creating and enabling the future of blues-based music on each song on Blood On My Hands and every fan looking to get wise to what that might be needs to hear it.
Emanuel Casablanca website
Interesting review. Love Emanuel’s voice and phrasing!.Adding Paul Gilbert’s guitar to Emanuel’s is an excellent move. Impressive!