CODY CANADA & THE DEPARTED
3

Longtime fans of Cross Canadian Ragweed will be enthusiastic: The band’s mastermind Cody Canada still holds the reins of his follow-up band "The Departed" and comes back with a fourteen-song album. "3" marks a change to a three-piece format and change in philosophy – both clearly audible on the band’s brand new, fourth album.

However, this “back to the future” concept is not a simple revival of what used to bring him high charts positions, millions of sales and coast to coast success. Instead it’s a scorcher of a reboot for "The Departed," chock full of the ingredients that made red dirt music an integral part of the American roots’n’roll catalog. Cody Canada is one of the guiding lights of this genre from the American southwest that has gained such widespread international recognition in the last decade, and his new album  3 is certainly another milestone of the genre and proof of its ongoing vitality and relevance.

"Cross Canadian Ragweed" fans will recognize a lot of what they hear on "3", as Canada gives a nod to his former band's glory days, brewing up a sound that's inspired by outlaw country icons of the 1970s and rock bands of the 1990s. "This record sounds like Cross Canadian Ragweed between 2002 and 2006, and it goes back to the way I originally started writing songs," he said in a statement. "It's observational writing. I was inspired by the bad news on the television. The good news, too. I was inspired by falling in love all over again with my wife, by watching my kids go through life, by politics, and by the modern world." Cody Canada and the Departed worked on "3" with Oklahoma producer Mike McClure, an acclaimed songwriter and producer who helped oversee multiple albums for "Cross Canadian Ragweed."