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It is his clear-eyed focus on day-to-day life that gives Caudle’s songs their considerable, yet quiet, power. This is the world we know, the world we face each day, the life we lead often without realizing the significance in each moment. That Caudle is able to capture that for us is a gift that we can draw upon to help us properly measure our days.
Caudle’s life has been full of big moments in the last year or two. The loss of family members, combined with his marriage last year gives his songwriting a resonance that stays with the listener after the album’s last song fades.
The album’s charms are subtle and sneak up on the listener rather than bulrush them. Caudle’s masterful handling of ordinary details creates a portrait of real life, honest, without saccharine sentiment. It is a portrait that accepts life on its own terms. And Caudle the songwriter does not pretend to have the answers. There is no condescension, no preaching. Because of this there is no distance, no gulf to be bridged between the listener and the artist.
Caudle’s naturally warm voice connects and pulls us in to his world. The musical landscape is at times stark, at times dreamy, at times haunting. On Crushed Coins the living walk side by side with the ghosts of our loved ones, hidden only slightly by a very thin veil. Crushed Coins takes its time revealing itself as a quiet classic, don’t miss it.
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