Reviewed by Stephen Adams

This is a four- track debut release from a Kent-based singer/songwriter. This CD is produced by an indie producer David Whitelock using live musicians, thus is probably intended as a demo rather than a perfect view of Sarah's musical vision. However, it's not the production that's the problem. There are times when Sarah shows potential, when she and producer David (who for an indie producer is not bad at R&B) mesh perfectly on the title track "Blessed". When Sarah hits those high notes on that track, the quality of her voice shines through very well. However, on the other three tracks, the quality is dreadful. "Man Can Never Go" sounds at first like the worst girl pop group imaginable is singing, due to fact that Sarah's singing and harmonies are passionless, the songwriting is corny at best, and the producer drops the ball on this one. "Testimony" has a good intent and message, however the production and vocals don't mesh at all. The production is sparse with some decent bass playing, whereas Sarah's singing is too overwhelming, and again the lyrics are poor at times. "Why" suffers from uninspiring production and boring drum programming, while Sarah's vocals are slightly stronger than on "Testimony" and "Man Can Never Go", but the lyrics again are very trite. I would suggest that she goes back to the drawing board and do a lot of work on her lyrics, losing those Christian cliches and trite statements, while trying fresh ways of saying the same things.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.