John Gold, one half of the progressive indie duo, Gr8frt, has emerged with a new solo album after almost a decade of focusing on other projects. Gold begins the album with clear intent for this project: each song was recorded in an hour, keeping in plenty of rough edges and imperfections which contrast his typical nature of overthinking the tracks.
The end result is an album of folk-infused indie rock without ornament. Gold’s lyrics are pensive as usual, diving into topics of marital strife and endurance, addiction and recovery, fatherhood and feeling like an orphan, and plenty of other thoughtful contrasts. It’s worth noting that “Preserver (Holy Ship)” does drop an expletive fairly early on, though I’d argue that the song might still be worth consideration.
As far as theological elements go, this is an album of searching and questions so expect there to be some tension. For instance, “Mouth Like Moses” seems to refer to Jesus as “Joshua” (Yeshua and Joshua are essentially equivalent, but this is still a pretty odd choice). With these notes in mind, there are still things to glean from the wrestling on these songs. “No mascara or fake tattoo,” Gold notes on Mississippi, can change God. But it also serves as a sentiment for the record: the ideas and recordings themselves are not dressed or disguised.
Cadillac is a raw record, but it’s full of beauty and honesty. If you expect a theological treatise, you may be disappointed. But if you want to look at one man’s wrestle with the Creator, through failure and trial, you won’t be disappointed by the songwriting on these stripped-down songs.