Reviewed by George Luke

If your passion is following obscure, unsigned US CCM acts, you may remember a Hispanic seven-piece called 180 Degrees from a couple of years ago. Well, they’ve added an eighth member, changed their name to Motivo, and signed to Crowne Music – the label started by Michael Omartian and Gary Chapman. This is their debut for said label and from reading the credits, they obviously had a large budget to work with. A staggering seven producers worked on the album; they include Tommy Sims, Javier Solis and the R&B hitmaking duo Buster & Shavoni. Musically, it alternates between straightforward pop and a more Latin-influenced sound, with the last three songs sung in Spanish (pop the CD into your computer, and you’re given the choice of seeing the band tell you about themselves in either Ingles or Espanol). For all that’s gone into it, there’s nothing really outstanding on offer here (and their cover of Stevie Winwood’s “Higher Love” is pants, to say the least). Just another well made, pleasant Nashville album.

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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