Album Notes

After completing a successful US tour, Casey Stratton got right to work in his home studio on The Crossing, the second independent release after 2005's critically acclaimed DIVIDE, and Stratton’s eighth studio album. With The Crossing Stratton takes a more organic and band-like approach with the production, creating an even more accessible sound than his previous efforts. Casey played all the instruments himself, even recording and mixing the project entirely on his own. “There is something about working alone in a room that gives me an immense sense of freedom. I know that if something really doesn’t work no one but me will ever hear it. Because of that I’ll try anything and I think I am more willing to access certain emotions that aren’t always so easy to access in a room full of people,” explains Stratton. Of the accessibility of the new effort, Casey remarks, “I really didn’t expect the reaction this record has been getting. For months I was afraid it wasn’t accessible enough, I never intended it to be anything but an expression and I wanted it to be different from my other records. I am sincerely overjoyed to hear that people are enjoying it so much.”

Stratton stays true to his sound featuring his trademark soaring vocals and emotional lyrics, but there is more of a message of hope and strength in The Crossing. The realization that 'enough is enough' is evident in such songs as You Showed Me Again and Blind. Coming to terms with past mistakes and the idea that no one wants to walk the world alone becomes clear in Rising Sun and Static Into Sound. The gothic-tinged piano in Projector is a perfect match with the haunting vocals and confident lyrics. The title track The Crossing closes the record with an emotional soliloquy combining both hope and fear into an extremely moving finish to an album that will most certainly be considered a high point in an already illustrious career.