Reviewed by Philip Croft

If you've not heard of Watermark before let me fill you in. Watermark are Nashville-based husband and wife team Nathan and Christie Nockels, they have been recording since 1998 and have toured extensively with artists such as Point Of Grace and Michael W Smith. In the US they have sold over 100,000 albums and were nominated for three Dove awards including best newcomers. So clearly they have quite a lot going for them. My first reaction when I came across them was, "Mmmm... Husband and wife team from Nashville. They write their own stuff, she sings, he plays guitar and they've worked with Chris Rice. Haven't Out Of The Grey released one album already this year?" Then when I listened to this album I realised that the similarities aren't just in the make up and location of the band. Okay, you can do a lot lot worse than Out Of The Grey if you want someone to sound like (I do actually own all of their albums so I'm not making a comparison with someone I dislike!!) but I feel that the likeness is way too close and Nathan and Christie need to show us what they can do in their own right because this album does show great potential for writing strong lyrics and equally strong melodies with a sound that is commercial enough to get coverage and yet is distinctive enough to stand out from the crowd. Yet at the end of the day this is a sound-a-like not them, which is a pity because I'm sure if they were brave enough to be themselves they would really have something.

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