Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

It is the sound of an old but vibrant soul, of the appealing echo that resonates around the air of authority that hangs around the personality and playing ability of Cal Ruddy which makes him so incessantly cool; for the young man has a natural tendency to come up with a song that not only captures the attention of the listener from the very first hook, he does it a way which makes you think.

It is the thinking, the response to the question of how to draw all in to listen to the song which marks Cal Ruddy out. Like so many talented people in his age bracket, he implores across each demographic to remember what it was like to be that age, to experience what made you part of society and to not alienate any section of it.

His latest single Maria captures that thought completely, a song very much from the heart of a young man but one that seems to come out of an era to which many suggest was the perfect time for pop, a late 50s, early 60s feel in which the song is bold and brash, the heavy vocals dancing on the head of a pin with lightness and integrity and the refrain in which Cal Ruddy takes great joy in sharing is not only infectious but stands up as moment of musical expression in which all generations can agree is simply divine.

It takes clarity, a singular vision in which to appeal across the spectrum and Cal Ruddy’s Maria does that. the song is a young man’s dream but seen with feeling through the eyes of experience, a trait normally preserved for the older and more sage, the young songwriter crashes into the hearts of the generations before him with style with this particular single and it is one that pumps out true blood easily and with unblemished, positive results.

A great single, one of Cal Ruddy’s finest moments so far and one that in another age would have been the smash hit that it deserves to be now.

Ian D. Hall