Chase McBride seems to be the much-needed breath of fresh air in these topsy-turvy times. Even though McBride's third studio album was crafted out of the midst of a turbulent time in the songwriter's life. As luck would have it McBride channels a Nick Drake paralleled universe full of harmonic tones, melodic symphonies, and an abundance of smooth understanding.
Vocally McBride doesn't hesitate towards vulnerability. Gifting the audience with easy listening and idyllic verses. It would be safe to say that the coastal San Francisco vibrant frequency is intact. Which is where the "Cold Water" album was born and where McBride happens to be stationed. Whether it's the use of a playful guitar vibrato or as it has been stated using sandpaper on a pair of jeans all to capture a significant sound.
The "Cold Water" album leads with a track called Control. Each song flows together mimicking the supple waves the coastal region graces. As the tracks continue forward with Days Move Easy, On The Other Side, Cedar & Oak, Operator, Trouble, Familiar Stranger and Cold Water. Seems fitting to name an album with a closing song, McBride sums up an emotional hurdle with an ever-present closing narrative of endless praise.
One song that has already been formatted for a music video is On The Other Side. What the video presents is a live recording as well as the visual imagery that mother nature provided. After watching On The Other Side, one could only suspect a serenity of the purest kind.Since
"Cold Water" is McBride's third album, what can we expect from the opening track Control? Well, Control opens up with the general overall flow of the album. Which comes off as a subtle introduction to McBride's newest adventure and idealism. Days Move Easy literal eases in after Control. Substituting a sweet acoustic sound fully capable of putting anyone in a good summertime mood.
Now as a slight sultry essence comes into play Cedar & Oak provides a needed getaway moment. One might even say that this track offers a lighthearted whisking away action. From this turn of events "Cold Water" takes off with a mix of emotions and confessions. For some electric guitar embodiment, Operator offers an intimate view into a relationship ties. Nothing is quite the same afterward, no matter how much we want to run away from the pain. Checking in with Trouble the third to last track, throws a pitch of cold revenge. Not in a traditional format...only that after the end of a relationship McBride tells us how better off everything has become. Learning from past mistakes and trying to build the pieces back up again.Familiar Stranger and Cold Water close out the album. Familiar Stranger is the ultimate heartbreak song. While not a country classic, McBride may have found a way to use Country elements to tangle up the emotional tide. Then before we know it, Cold Water offers itself up as the reinvention song.
Collectively tying together an album that courses troubled waters along with finding a deeper meaning to life on the other end.McBride is in a long list of singer-songwriters hailing from a coastal region. However, the songwriter does not boast or belly out the incredulous nonsense of what is being played in the Top 40 today. "Cold Water" has a personality and that can only be attributed to the individual whose mind it happened to bloom.
