"Janiva Magness released her first album in 1997, but it took her nearly two decades until she snagged a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2016. The nod was for Love Wins Again ... Like its predecessor, Love Is an Army is rooted in Southern soul-blues (...) but Magness adds new dimensions to this blueprint. Notably, there's a strong country undercurrent that runs through the album, first surfacing on "On and On" (...) but reappearing on the title track and the fragile "Down Below." When paired with the adventurous blues that pops up elsewhere (...) this Americana turns Love Is an Army into a rich, rewarding affair that betters its fine predecessor".