Boasting a career spanning over a decade and a half, Caedmon's Call is, without question, one of Christian alternative music's most successful and beloved never-to-go-mainstream bands. Overdressed, the eighth full-length release from the band, continues the band’s legacy of folk-inspired alternative rock and welcomes back Derek Webb who left the band in 2003 to pursue three solo records.

While not particularly musically innovative, Caedmon's Call has been a consistently compelling band because of the depth and thoughtfulness of their lyricism. In a scene glutted with sterilized and genericized musical platitudes about faith, love and hope, Caedmon's Call infused their writing with penetrating intensity and poignant, unapologetically (and sometimes offensively) prophetic insight. The depth of this commitment to writing can be perhaps seen best in 2004's Share the Well, in which the band applied their talents to tackle issues of poverty and injustice they had personally witnessed on trips to India, Ecuador and Brazil.

Overdressed, like other Caedmon's Call releases, is an enjoyable collection of the band’s now standard unassuming folk-driven rock united to thought-provoking lyrics. However, after 15 years of a practically unchanged format, Overdressed leaves the longtime listener with much to be desired. True enough, the songs—in typical Caedmon's Call fashion–are certainly catchy and imminently sing-able. Unfortunately, many of them sound all too similar to songs that the band has done before, leaving many of the tracks with a disappointingly predictable sound while making songs which attempt at innovation (e.g., "Two Weeks in Africa", "Trouble" and the nascent politicism of "All Across the Western World") sound somewhat out of place.

Not all is lost, however. "Expectations" is refreshingly atypical, a subtle and tightly produced song about the surprising nature of faith. Also, "Share the Blame" explores the limits of the band's folk roots, merging them with infectious classic country-esque riffs and melodies while "Hold the Light" creates a haunting and subdued convergence of jazz, folk and blues.

On the whole, Overdressed is an interesting, if not predictable release. For those new to Caedmon's Call, the fusion of folk-alternative melodies and thoughtfully inspired lyrics will create a satisfyingly compelling album. For longtime fans of the band, Overdressed is, of course, nothing new—another solid delivery from a great band that continues to do what they have done so well for the last 15 years.