Reviewed by Trevor Raggatt

One can't help but feel that the fig-leaf which adorns the cover of Caedmon's Call's latest offering is slightly appropriate. It's a fine collection of songs, sure enough, but the album left me with a vague hint of emperor's new clothes. All the way through I longed for it to be just that little bit better than it is. Certainly it sounds gorgeous and this is its saving grace; the organic, acoustic textures are a positive treat for the ears. So it's not to say that 'Overdressed' is a bad album; it isn't, but some of the writing isn't as polished as the production. With its smoky vocals, Hammond, Rhodes, loose rhythm and title "Trouble", the opening track had me wondering if I'd popped a Ray Lamontagne disc into the stereo by accident - rather, it marks the welcome return of Derek Webb to the Caedmon's Call fold. The following tracks, "Need Your Love" and "Sacred", are equally strong and more in the band's classic acoustic mode. "Sacred" features Danielle Young's beautiful lead vocals which come over with an Indigo Girls sheen. Her other lead vocal "Love Grows Love", has a similar Indigo-lite feel. Where the songwriting becomes more clumsy is when the band look to get a particular "message" across. The lack of subtlety in the lyrics of "Two Weeks In Africa" is only saved by its sheer catchiness. This is thrown into sharper contrast by two tracks penned by rising country singer, Sandra McCracken - "Share The Blame" and "Across The Western World"; both address hard issues in a thoughtful, non-didactic manner. Overall, 'Overdressed' is likely to go down a storm with established fans, but perhaps fails to reach its full potential because of a little "C+, could try harder" lyric writing.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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