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JFH Indie Review

JFH Indie Inspection Review

Cloverton

Cloverton
We Sing Joy EP

Street Date: October 31, 2014
Style: Pop / Christmas
Buy It: iTunes


With humble beginnings as the worship team at a small church in Manhattan, Kansas, The Lance Stafford Band - now known as Cloverton - got a chance to spread their music to a broader audience when they were picked up by nationally-syndicated radio station K-LOVE/Air-1. They followed it up with a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign and the following full-length album Patterns last year. And this year, the band is back with a six-track Christmas EP entitled We Sing Joy. Christmas albums are a big (and lucrative) thing in the Christian music industry; much like worship albums, carols are recycled and rehashed in abundance every year. The problem with this is that many bands that do it don't even bother to try anything new with it. The main strength with Cloverton's offering lies in the exact opposite. These are all familiar Christmas carols, but Cloverton takes strides to make them at least somewhat original, mostly in re-writing the melodies for several of them. Had I not known a decent amount of the lyrics for "What Child Is This," I may not have even recognized their version of it. Completely re-arranged, Cloverton's melody for this song briefly brings to mind the cover of "Mad World" by Gary Jules and Michael Andrews (if only for a moment). "We Sing Joy (Joy to the World)" is another example, though the vocal melody sounds like it's in a different time signature than the music, and, as a result, sounds a little offbeat. It's a little difficult to get past, unfortunately, as is the overwhelming autotune and over-accentuation of certain sounds and syllables in "Silent Night." However, the rest of the EP is fairly strong. The intro "Arrival" leads perfectly into "What Child Is This," the newly-written verses for "Do You Hear" fit in very well with the rest of the song, and their rendition of "I Heard The Bells" is very accomplished. The band has a catchy pop rock sound akin to Building 429 or Third Day, and is willing to experiment with the sound, which will certainly come in handy as they continue to grow and write new music. We Sing Joy is far from the strongest Christmas offering I've heard, but it has a few charms on it that you might like to add to your holiday playlist.

- Review date: 11/17/14, written by Scott Fryberger of Jesusfreakhideout.com



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This Friday, October 17, 2025
ALBUMS
ANTHNY DIARY ENTRY 1 [Provident]
AOH Music BEHOLD (Acoustic Live), Vol. 1 (independent)
Blanca Full Bloom [Curb]
Chris Blue Every Day Is Christmas [Gaither]
Geoff Moore and The Distance Foundations (Re-Release) [Girder]
Geoff Moore and The Distance A Place To Stand (Re-Release) [Girder]
Vince Gill 50 Years From Home: I Gave You Everything I Had - EP [UMG]
Nate Parrish Make Me A Mountain (independent)
Psallos The New and Better Way: Hymns of Hebrews (independent)
Anne Wilson Stars [Capitol CMG]
Megan Woods The Truth EP [Fair Trade]

SINGLES
Elevation Worship Jesus Be The Name - Single [Provident]
F'rael God's Wheel (ft. TRYBISHOP) - Single [Syntax]
Brandon Lake When A Cowboy Prays (Amazon Music Songline) - Single [Provident]
LEON Undefeated - Single [El Rescate Music]
No Vain Glory UNLEADED - Single [Syntax]
Park 7 The Hope Is On The Way - Single (independent)
Rave Jesus & Gracie Binion Need Your Love - Single [Provident]
REFVGE, Cyfë II & WAY? U P W A R D S ft. Bianca Silver & Josh LeCroy - Single [Syntax]
Rhymes In Harmony & MAYIA My Sister - Single [Syntax]
Anton Scholl Born To Love You - Single [Near Kingdom]
Nathan Sheridan Don't Lose Hope - Single [WieRok]
SNT. VINCENT Feast of the Saints - Single [Syntax]
Vertical Kings Faith In Stereo - Single [Covenant]
Vic Lucas, Essence Natay & Ashleey Barnes Let it Rain - Single [Syntax]
Zane Vickery All Things New - Single (independent)
Aaron Williams Abide (feat. CAIN) - Single [Integrity]

DVD
Chris Blue Every Day Is Christmas DVD [Gaither]

Next Friday, October 24, 2025
ALBUMS
John Allan untitled EP [Centricity]
Dan Bremnes The Villain - EP [Curb]
Clear Convictions Endure [Resuscitation]
God Behind Bars Music Live From Angola Prison Vol. 1 [Provident]
Fepeste This World Ain't Mine to Change [Velvet Blue]
gio. FINE BY ME [Capitol CMG]
Brandon Lake Amazon Music Songline [Provident]
Tyson Motsenbocker Modern Worries [Tooth & Nail]
Smalltown Poets St. Augustine (independent)
Zahriya Zachary Rediscovery [Bethel]

SINGLES
29:11 Worship, Zion Rempel You Never Fail (feat. Emily Guy) - Single [DREAM]
Joe L Barnes Grief, Joy, Gratitude - Single [Provident]
Chad Cory, Zacardi Cortez My First Love (Remix) - Single [DREAM]
Leanna Crawford Beginning Of Your Grace - Single [Provident]
darthy Juniper Tree - Single [WieRok]
Emerson Day Midnight Hour - Single [Fair Trade]
Good Weather Forecast lows2highs - Single [DREAM]
Grace + Max Rich - Single [WieRok]
Mercy Tribe Music The King is in the Room (feat. Ayiesha Woods) - Single (independent)
Mountains in the Sea You Never Fail (feat. Emily Guy) - Single [DREAM]
Seph Schlueter Already On The Way (feat. Benjamin William Hastings) - Single [Provident]
Tomb Slayer The Christmas Lamb (feat. Khristian Dentley & Sarah Whittemore) - Single [Tomb Slayer]
The Undertaking! All Smiles - Single (independent)

VINYL
Clear Convictions Endure [Resuscitation]


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