Reviewed by Andy Cooper

A showcase of new songwriting and vocal talent from up and coming gospel artists in Los Angeles, this CD provides 12 tracks with a variety of styles. Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but it should still be appealing to most gospel fans. There are some outstanding vocal performances, particularly from Zi'el on "Grateful", Kellee Johnson on "Someday" and Christina Bell on "Serenity". The backing band is slick and polished (perhaps overly so), but they provide a good support for the vocal talent. As does the background choir: rich harmonies and powerful dynamics. Some soul stirring moments can be experienced here, but the high quality is not sustained throughout: some of the slower songs become a bit over indulgent, some of the male soloists are not matched to the strength of the ladies and the one hip-hop track sits uneasily within this collection with a rather jerky delivery. Real strings would have been nice, rather than the thin samples, but that demands a rather different level of budget. All together, a stimulating though rather formulaic collection.

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