Sabrina & Craig - One Home.......One Heart (2010)

Craig Lincoln has released two CDs in a short period of time. His solo debut, Cats & Dogs, received a nice writeup from Bloggerhythms a few weeks back. He has also teamed up with another singer-songwriter, Sabrina Schneppat, and together they just issued One Home......One Heart. Much of this CD has the same personality as Lincoln's work that features just his voice and acoustic guitar. However, the band they use on most tracks adds fullness to the duo's music, giving it some color missing from his solo disc.

Schneppat, who wrote four of the eleven songs, has a really nice voice that blends well with Lincoln's. Her partner, a multi-instrumentalist who wrote everything else, includes four holdovers from Cats & Dogs: its title track, the title track from this CD, "Fall or Fly," and "Little White Lies."

Lincoln conjured up another tribute to his parents. "Call Your Mom" is a perfect companion piece to "My Father's Son" from his solo album. Schneppat takes the lead on Lincoln's "Help Wanted." She uses economic terms and the working world to describe her need for a lover. The song opens with the line "There's been a big recession in my emotional economy" and the song takes off from there. "Fall or Fly" is hook laden enough for radio and "Mine All Mine" is a girl's tribute to a '58 Cadillac that she's just "gotta have." The latter is as close as these sessions got to rock 'n roll territory.

Writers frequently overuse the word "intimate" in their reviews but it easily applies here. As the CD liner notes say, "In an effort to capture the authenticity and natural quality that we love so much, the core of this album...... was recorded nose to nose, LIVE in the studio."

My goal isn't to compare the two CDs but I find that task inevitable. If you are looking for something sightly edgier you may prefer Lincoln on his own. If you want the softening that often comes from a female perspective you may prefer Sabrina & Craig together. Either way you can't go wrong.