Edwin McCain gets 鈥楲ucky鈥� with new album
With his first studio album of all new songs in 15 years, Edwin McCain demonstrates what a little luck and a lot of talent can produce over the course of a fruitful music career.
Recorded in Nashville, Tenn., “Lucky” possesses that familiar McCain style that jettisoned the singer-songwriter into the spotlight with the hit “I’ll Be” from 1997’s “Misguided Roses.”
Like his South Carolina comrade Darius Rucker from Hootie & the Blowfish, McCain always finds the perfect way to blend infectious melodies and relatable lyrics into emotional stories from the heart.
The album opens with “Chasing a Memory” and McCain yearning to rekindle his glory days when declaring, “Back in the day I was high-test gasoline/Now, maybe I’m more like last year’s kerosene.”
On “Love Me or Leave Me Alone,” the 55-year-old McCain shows his bluesy side with a smoldering performance about reaching a critical point in a relationship that results in the ask for a deeper commitment or an unfortunate parting.
“When It Does” finds McCain once again acting as a protector and comforter by proclaiming, “I wish I could stop the world from beating you up/But I’ll be right here beside you when it does.”
“The Cheatin'” switches up the mood a bit and embodies McCain’s keen sense for colorful storytelling. The rousing and humorous number about a gentleman revealing the true reason he is about to be married for the fourth time is absent of love and overflowing with deceit.
The sentimental “Sing for You” highlights McCain’s calling for creating music that stirs emotions and impacts lives when he sings, “I never knew this life could be so fleeting/We drank from that cup like it would always be full/And all of this time can be deceiving/The songs of our lives are indestructible.”
McCain gets some vocal assistance from Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey on “Lucky All the Time.” Counting one’s blessings and soaking in the warm rays that the sunny side of life has to offer playfully punctuates the simple things we take for granted as we are given one more day above the dirt.
McCain delivers a touching tribute to his mother on “Helicopter.” The emotional lyrics tenderly detail the last precious moments of a son and mother during a celebration of life just before her final goodbye and ascension into the heavens.
The 10 impassioned arrangements on “Lucky” each strike an emotional chord through their simplistic and heartfelt messages, solidifying McCain’s triumphant return and proving his luck has yet to run out.
Clinton Rhodes is a music reviewer and Belle Vernon resident.