Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Yvonne's bio is impressive; the Californian singer having provided bvs for the likes of Kirk Franklin, Tramaine Hawkins and CeCe Winans. Additionally she has worked a lot in theatre and I was amused to find "sound and lighting engineer" in her list of abilities! Yvonne writes much of her own music, demonstrating an excellent sense of traditional gospel song structure and arrangement, the instrumentation/production being handled by Roland Pollard. Yvonne sings both lead and backing vocals and her voice is powerful in tone, providing rich chord textures as well as strong, soaring melodies, although at full power has a little harsh edge at times. The production is mostly rock solid with particularly noteworthy grooving bass lines. The main disappointment is the synth brass section which, whilst acceptable when part of a bigger texture, is disappointingly thin and artificial when featured. They really would have benefited from a real brass section. Highlights are the title track, which addresses the Devil as a liar who cannot take a life that belongs to the Lord, and "Over And Over", another track with a great bass line that victoriously declares "I got a testimony. . .he placed my feet on solid ground." Some of the other tracks are less successful; "The Prayer" sounds wooden and cluttered, and "Amen" has a couple of very strange-sounding edits. Also, the two Christmas bonus tracks at the end (originally released in 2009) sound messy. Yvonne is obviously a talented lady, but this album is a bit of a mixed bag.

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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