Reviewed by Ben Lilford

When you're compared to just about every female-fronted rock band on the planet, you would probably find carving out an individual niche in the market a little hard and unfortunately Gretchen's new album isn't helping them. Like a hamster vacuum-sealed in a box, the songs struggle to break through the polish and sheen of Travis Wyrick's production mastery and despite Mia's exceptional voice, her melody and lyrics seem tired before the end of the first line of "Fading". There are saving graces though. The pop-edged "Let It Go" gets the head rolling gently from side to side, and the Brad Noah (Disciple) guitar solo'd track "Passion" features what is easily guitarist Dave Richard's best riff. "Fading" has received a lot of critical acclaim and you can see why, it's well produced, run of the mill stuff that rock stations in the US lap up. It's such a shame that Gretchen don't have to say anything new to sell units Stateside, because they'd be a better band if they did.

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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