Reviewed by Stephen Luff

Lil' Redhead Somi (or just Somi to her friends) releases a gospel album aimed (I assume) at the pre-teen market (Somi's age) with producer Junior 'Jay' Williams at the controls. The result is, I am sorry to say, an album which is both over produced and lacking direction. The over production appears to result from an over compensation for Somi's still developing voice. There are pre-programmed beats and samples (of Somi's voice) playing over her own vocals a plenty here, which at times almost drowns her. Examples include "He Loves Me" and the title track, where it is difficult to catch the words at points in the songs with all the studio additions! Alongside tracks written by Mr Williams and others, there is the addition of covers such as Abba's "I Have A Dream" and R Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly", both of which quite frankly should have been left alone. The latter sounds like a nervous child doing karaoke. Even the addition of adult lead vocals like on "Thankful" for example, does not help. Years ago Zoe Music released a pretty dreadful children's album by one Little Debbie Dee. Clearly the passing of time has not improved Zoe's A&R judgment.

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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