Reviewed by Michael Durrant

Think 'enchanting', 'haunting' and 'captivating' and then get out your thesaurus to find a further array of words to describe the effect of this simple and beautiful debut album by West Virginian acoustic duo Great Street. This album is best listened to after taking a deep breath, shaking off the cares of the day and sitting down in a comfortable chair with a hot cocoa. Great Street are principally Joy Clevenger (vocals) and Michael Warner (acoustic guitar, fiddle, mandolin, backing vocals) and this feather-light foundation of two is what fills most of the album, much to its benefit. Clevenger's gentle voice is extremely easy to listen to as she traverses the pleasant melodies with effortless grace and Warner's accompaniment on various acoustic instruments complements and fills a little of the space. But space is what is so good about this offering - space to consider the power behind the poetry, to marvel at the message these lyrics convey. The opening track, "Your Hand", gets straight into the central theology of salvation, that we are deserving of wrath but, by his grace. "A Mother's Song" is a peaceful lullaby that follows which is in turn followed by the reflective "Good Day" which is full to brim with positivity and conjures up emotive pictures of a cosy winter's evening spent indoors. Much of the record has a folk pop feel as an inevitable result of Warner's fiddle and the Celtic penny whistle intro to "Someone".

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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