Caddy Cooper ‘Outside The Wire’ - Album Review

Caddy Cooper is an Australian singer/song-writer whose musical style is described as being a mix of blues, country and folk. After a critically acclaimed EP ‘Acoustic EP’ then the release of her subsequent debut album ‘Snapshot’ Caddy has returned with a new record ‘Under The Wire’. Caddy Cooper can certainly not be accused of failing to put herself out there, having toured with the British Military across several continents and also embarked on a UK wide tour.

After my first listen of ‘Under The Wire’, it’s clear to see the various musical styles that influence Caddy’s music. I feel like I’m in a honky-tonk when I’m listening to ‘Get Onboard’ whereas I’m taken to a chilled acoustic set in a local bar in ‘My World and Everything In It’ then all the way to New Orleans with the bluesy ‘Last Night’s Lover’.

The aforementioned track ‘Get Onboard’ kicks of the album and gets you clicking your fingers and tapping your feet. If you like The Time Jumpers then this will be right up your street, the song immediately gets your attention with an early but catchy chorus, “So don’t bide your time and wait in line, patience won’t give no reward.. this train ain’t stopping long so get on board”, however the clever part of the song its the way the lyrics take a really dark twisted turn. Here I am clicking and clapping away and suddenly the subject changes from a guy ‘Who creeps on in with some clever lines to say’ (to a lady) to “Mama holds on tightly to her babies, she’s beaten black and blue by her old man.” After clicking back a few seconds, I realise I’ve been clapping happily to some dark stuff. As well as it being clever song-writing the instrumental tone never changes. ‘Get Onboard’ certainly feels like a traditional throwback to old-fashioned folk/country and that certainly sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Caddy’s vocals are impressive, and although she possesses a powerful vocal range, its beautifully controlled and what you’re left with is a sound as smooth as the cream on my hot chocolate. The second track on the album ‘An Hour Or two’ is a beautiful love song that really suits her dreamy smooth vocals. Caddy tells a beautiful story of a couple of spending some good quality time together. “Hold me close baby don’t let go, I want to savour every moment loving you so…lets keep those curtains closed, if we ignore the morning there’s no need to let go…because we’ve been happily procrastinating for an hour or two”. Such beautiful lyrics are rare in country music nowadays, save for the exception of ‘Mine Would Be You’ by Blake Shelton or ‘Meanwhile Back At Mama’s by Tim Mcgraw and Faith Hill. The beauty of this song much the like the two I’ve just mentioned, is that it makes no mention of sexual attraction or chemistry, which if you listen to many songs seems to be all you need for a loving relationship, it focuses on the much deep-rooted and arguably more permanent feelings between two lovers. With a stripped back acoustic intro, with the blues guitar slowly becoming more prevalent thorough to the songs end, it really is an easy on the ears song, that many young and old would find it easy to relate to.

During the making of ‘Outside the Wire’ Caddy worked with thirteen musicians from Australia and the UK. This is what contributes to a good variety in the tracks. ‘Don’t Say We’re Through’ adds the vocals of Paul Carella in a duet, which as the title suggests is about a couple who are fighting to save their relationship. With the harmonica providing a more country/folk feel, Caddy and Paul share a good chemistry, Caddy’s vocals take on a slightly higher pitch whilst compliments Paul Carella’s gravely vocals. For some reason the start of the song reminded me a little of the mid 90’s Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave hit ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’ however I was a little of the mark as the theme is nowhere near as dark and murderous. Overall the song musically is good, with complimenting vocals and the harmonica adding a nice mix, I was left expecting more with the lyrics. “Pick up the phone, I’m tired of being alone, please let me know, that’s not the time to let go…because every morning I’m picking up the pieces… please don’t say that we’re through.” to elaborate I just felt that lyrically it seemed quite generic and maybe lacked the complexity or inventiveness to turn it from a good song to an exceptional one.

The title track, ‘Outside The Wire’ reverts back to the more bluesy theme with the piano accompanying the guitar, and really does show off the hugely impressive vocals Caddy has. I feel in this one she is talking about herself in many ways ‘I spend my days outside the wire, playing safe is the not the game for me…set me freedom but not out of harms way’  There is some impressive guitar work from lead guitarist James Mitchell, the solo towards the end of the track adds a classy touch to it. ‘I’ll be leaving you’ continues with the blues theme but picks up the pace considerably.

‘Lighthouse Keepers Daughter’ is the perhaps the most folksy track on the album, adopting a more nautical theme, a different story of a love between a soldier and his lover. Lyrically this sounds like vintage Seth Lakeman, a UK based folk singer. ‘With a love as strong as the calling sea, when this war is over we can start to build a life, said a soldier to his lighthouse girl, will you be my wife?’ The fiddle mixed nicely with the acoustic guitar pairing. This felt like an extract from a book, however such is the reality of war there is not always a happy ending ‘Days turned into weeks and weeks rolled into years and the lighthouse keepers daughter cried for her darkest fears.’  The song is quite long in length at nearly 6 minutes long, which is probably not overly friendly for radio, but is still nonetheless a song I was almost losing myself in a fictitious but also real world.

As soon as I saw the name ‘London Town’, being British I naturally anticipated listening to it more than the others. I guess for someone so well travelled its not overly surprisingly Caddy has wrote a song about somewhere like London. Thankfully for us British natives, she paints a rather idyllic portrait of London, ‘This country life suits me just fine, but it just fills up time, I should be back in London town’ the density and buzz that London highs has clearly made an impression on Caddy, especially coming from a small town.

Much of the album appears to be heavily blues influenced, however some of the latter tracks revert to a more traditional US country feel. ‘Further We Got To Fall’ is one of my favourite tracks on the album. This the second song in which Paul Carella joins in the vocals. We’ve all felt like we’ve been in a love that’s almost too good to be true. “Put me out of my misery tell me all that i think is true is wrong…i’ve been feeling good for far too long.” One of the more up-tempo tracks on the album, the chemistry between the two is evident. The beginning of the song is clever as it leaves you wondering whether its a breakup song or a love song, where as it transpires is neither, its just two people battling their inner doubts.

Overall there are 15 tracks of a very consistent good quality. Even with the ones I haven’t mentioned, I can’t say any of them are really in anyway bad. One of the things that startled me most was that Caddy Cooper wrote all the songs herself, which in country music is more and more unusual. Whereas many of the big names will work with three or four songwriters, this is truly Caddy’s creation. With an awesome mix of blues, bluegrass and country, it is clear that Caddy, is a hugely talented writer, vocally she has an excellent vocal range. Although she generally likes to keep a lower smooth turn, she turns it up a notch only when necessary. Sometimes I listen to an album and it feels like I’m listening to vocal gymnastics where an artist just feels the need to show off his/her range for the hell of it.

The thing I admire about Caddy, is that I’ve rarely heard someone so utterly comfortable within her sound, and how the delivery sounds so natural, un-rushed and all together beautiful. I guess if I was to be picky, I would say its difficult to pick out a song that would get picked up for consistent airplay. Although I am yet to find out, I feel the real beauty of her tracks come to life in live performance. Fans of blues and country will enjoy this album, which is currently available on iTunes.