Hailed by Gordon Lightfoot as a songwriter “who needs to be heard”, Craig Cardiff's newest album 'Goodnight (Go Home)' is proof positive. While Cardiff has released 11 albums in the last decade, this most recent studio offering feels like the album all his fans have been waiting for. Characterized by sincere, subversive lyrics, ‘Goodnight (Go Home)’ has received early fan & critic praise, for the understated creativity and emotional intensity usually reserved for debut records.

Produced by Les Cooper (Jill Barber, Andy Stochansky) at Canterbury Studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the album 'Goodnight (Go Home)' features 15 studio tracks, with the production assistance/musicianship of Paul Mathew (Hidden Cameras) and accompaniment of Mike Olsen (K-OS, Arcade Fire), Joel Stouffer (Dragonette, Jason Collette), Lisa MacIsaac (Mad Violet), Kieran Adams (Sarah Harmer), and Rose Cousins as well as a host of other talented musicians.

The album has support from national radio outlets and upcoming placement on a syndicated television series. Cardiff comments, "The strangest response has been from some club DJ’s who have been asking to play 'When People Go' (with the chorus of 'good night, go home, there is nothing more to see here’) as their 'end of night' song. I thanked them for their interest, but explained that I actually wrote it for my daughter, for when she starts asking questions about death and funerals. I wasn’t sure it would fit, but they said they loved it, that it was a perfect way to send out a room - who am I to argue?".

While Cardiff admits to no particular religious affiliation (”cynically undecided” is his answer), the album prods at the ideas of afterlife, love, and spirituality. “These are the questions we’ve all been knocking around for years. There is beauty in some faith-based stories and ideas that has been co-opted by the political right, by people who prey on insecurity in others. The album pokes at them to not poison it for everyone”.

Intense, subversive lyrics are matched to lush acoustic arrangements, from the upbeat, piano thumping, tongue-in-cheek track 'When People Go' (A Shel Silverstein/Harry Nilsen inspired take on dying), to 'Heaven’, which starts as a cynical reckoning of who gets into heaven and why and curls into a bystander's apology for Blackburg, VA.

Cardiff aims his pen at interesting targets. Case in point, the premise for the song 'Smallest Wingless', which came from a photographer friend volunteering with the organization www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org. Stark lyrics (sadness is just loved wasted, with no little heart to put it inside) and beautifully framed piano and string quartet paint the picture of two parents welcoming a newborn into the world, only to be told that the child will only survive a few hours. Embracing new technology, the album 'Goodnight (Go Home)' is available via traditional CD format at shows and select stores, as well via digital retailers, but there is a special live twist. Fans can bring USB keys to select shows (listed on www.craigcardiff.com) and purchase the album for $10 (slightly less than the physical CD). The ‘live digital’ version has all songs on the album, plus some bonus live tracks that the physical CD doesn’t contain, as well as a booklet with artwork. “This is directly between artist and audience. Don’t get me wrong, I love real albums – the artwork, opening it up and reading lyrics. But the reality is that many people buy music online. The ‘live digital’ model an ideal compromise – I don’t need to pay iTunes a percentage, fans bring their own USB keys to the merch table at the beginning, and pick up their songs + booklet at the end of the night.”

The environmental impact was important for Cardiff when creating this option. “Why not save on plastic? The stats are that 30 billion CDs and DVDs are manufactured every year, while millions of unwanted discs end up in landfill sites every month. This gives fans an option on how they want to consume their music.”

While critics of the ‘live digital’ idea have said that it will increase music piracy, Cardiff disagrees. “My whole career as a songwriter relies on fan support. My philosophy has always been to ask that people share the music, through any means possible. If they like it, I ask them to come to shows, purchase the albums. I hate the consistent industry notion that treats real music fans like criminals before they’ve even purchased the music. ‘Live digital’ sales at shows helps keep plastic out of landfills, which to me balances out against any potential piracy.”

The album is being supported with over 50 performance dates in the US and Canada this fall (listed at www.craigcardiff.) , and is available at performances, as well as at select stores, through iTunes, Maplemusic.com and CDbaby.com.