Reviewed by Paul Nicholls

I always give an album three plays before I pass judgement, but, within the first four bars of the first track on its first play I knew this was something special. I was so impressed with the uncompromising lyrics, wonderful arrangements and superb voice of Phillips that I took to the net to conduct a little research. I was truly surprised to see that Phillips wrote most of the album, was only 22 and that this was her debut album. You often find in most Stateside releases that their albums suffer from a terrible "plastic" sounding overproduction - This was certainly not the case here as "I Am", the third track, proves most successfully. So, how do you describe Phillips? "Brilliant" and "ace" are two reviews from two non-Christian mates (encouraging eh?!) who say she sounds like a mixture of Sheryl Crow and Shania Twain. Incredible, as that was my immediate thought too! Looking at the whole production with a critical eye I find it very difficult to provide any criticism, apart from perhaps suggesting that the first and second tracks should find their places at opposite ends of the album to break up the familiar groove found in the two. So where does the dreadful style "folk/pop" come from? Ms Phillips herself is the answer - that's how she describes herself.

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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