Serbian-born Ana Popovic has captured much attention within the blues circuit in recent years with her superb, multi-faceted guitar work and a solid set of recordings, a pair for Ruf Records and her previous release on her current label, Eclecto Groove. Though her primary focus is on the blues, her guitar work also features rock, jazz, and funk influences, which reflects her time spent with her father, guitarist/bassist Milutin Popovic (who often held jam sessions at home and exposed his daughter to his robust blues and soul record collection), and has also garnered her some recognition from the non-blues crowd.

Popovic’s latest release, Blind For Love, should continue the favorable trends for her. It features 12 tracks, mixing blues, soul, rock, funk, and jazz in equal measures. Among the highlights is the kinetic opening track, “Nothing Personal,” which should receive some radio play in the U.S. if there’s any justice in the world. The acoustic slide track, “Steal Me Away,” the sultry title track, “More Real” and “The Only Reason,” a pair of moody jazz number, the soul rocker, “Putting Out The APB,” featuring some sizzling slide guitar from Popovic and a gospel-influenced vocal, and the funk workout, “Lives That Don’t Exist,” are also standouts.

Popovic wrote or co-wrote all but one of the tracks on the disc. Her guitar is extraordinary throughout the disc and her singing is also first-rate. Blind For Love was produced by Popovic and Mark Dearnley (AC/DC, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty), and features members of her touring band (Ronald Jonker – Bass, Andrew “Blaze” Thomas – Drums), plus a couple of members of the Phantom Blues Band (Tony Braunagel – drums, Mike Finnigan (Hammond B3), along with Lenny Castro (percussion), Joe Sublett (sax), and Darrell Leonard (trumpet).

For those unfamiliar with Ana Popovic, Blind For Love is a great place to start. She’s truly multi-talented; one of the most skillful and versatile guitarists currently performing and she’s quickly developing into the real deal as a vocalist and composer. You’ll be hearing a lot from Popovic, and Blind For Love, over the next few months.