Before I start babbling about Caldwell’s latest I just wanted to publicly pat myself on the back as I am listening to the album off my remote server using the most excellent SSHFS, which essentially allows me to mount a remote share locally through a secure tunnel–in plain speak my music at home is availble to me when I’m not. If you are at all interested you can check out my write up here.

Back to the music.

Universal Truth is not a ground breaking album. You are not going to be shaken to your core by chances taken and glimpses of genius in phrasing and composition. However, if you are a House head with a penchant for Disco, like myself, than this album will please. From the Cock-Rock opening “Runaway” to the Cruel Summer-esque “The Real” Caldwell delivers up sticky hooks and infectious beats. Not all the tracks thump along as some slow burners like “The Question” are tossed in to cool things down for a moment.

At the end of the disk is the most sublime track, excellent in nearly all of the singles that have come out but this incarnation is the perfect summer sound. It has just the right combination of Samba shimmy, R&B chorus, and sleepy Bossa shuffle. Of all the tracks Caldwell has written and produced this, by far, is my favorite as it captures his optomistic spirit and knack for shimmering House beats but recasts it into a sweetened beach number where you can almost feel the sand between your toes in the final refrain.

Sample some of his tracks over at music.download.com including three tracks from Universal Truth or just head over to eMusic or Amazon and grab it.