Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

JFH Music Review


Jason Gray, Order EP
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

Jason Gray
Order EP



Artist Info: Discography
Genre(s): Pop
Album length: 5 tracks: 17 minutes, 29 seconds
Street Date: August 16, 2019


READER RATING:   


To put it mildly, Jason Gray's sophomore major-label album, 2009's Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue, was a critical and commercial breakthrough. And rightly so, given the fact that the record showed the talented Minnesotan to be not only an absolute master of the folk and pop musical idioms, but also a songwriter capable of crafting lyrics which were alternately thought-provoking, heartrending and, in some cases, simply hilarious. Those who heard the second effort had no trouble believing the critics who labeled Gray as Christian music's best-kept secret and, even more notably, heir-apparent to none other than Steven Curtis Chapman.

Almost as soon as Untrue hit the airwaves and digital shelves, though, Gray began to reign in his outside-the-box tendencies and fashion offerings that more closely reflected the majority of that which tended, and still tends, to dominate the Inspirational Top 20 charts. While the three full-length projects released between 2011 and 2016 certainly found no shortage of radio-based success, more than a few fans lamented the perhaps inevitable waning of that which made Untrue so delightfully quirky and unique.

Gray's new EP, Order (the first in a planned trio), does show the occasional signs of the musical and thematic singularity that first brought its creator to prominence. The engrossing semi-ambient textures of the reworked "Becoming," which first saw the light of day on last year's The Kipper Gray Sessions extended player, are a perfect case in point. In the same way, "Order Disorder Reorder" ("I begged you again and again to send a miracle/ But the storm was the way you broke my heart open wide/ To get to what was hidden inside") shows at least a glimmer of the poignant self-awareness that rendered Untrue so absolutely engaging.

By and large, though, the better portion of the most recent release is given over to run of the mill radio-ready musical fare that does little to separate Gray from an ever-growing legion of like-sounding contemporaries. And the similarly ordinary phrasing and sentiments found on cuts like "Maker of Mornings" ("I opened a gift this morning/ When I opened up my eyes/ Oh it's good just to be alive") and "I'm Gonna Let It Go" ("You gonna lift me up/ When I pour it all out You gonna fill my cup") only serve to cement the EP's less than truly distinctive character.

In fairness, only the out and out unremarkable "Wonder" constitutes a bona fide miscue. And Gray's characteristic buoyant melodies and feel-good lyrics remain both uplifting and enjoyable. Nevertheless, while Untrue may acquit itself nicely enough when considered as a self-contained entity, its star shines considerably less brightly when viewed within the long and imposing shadow cast by Gray's far more impressive earliest works.

- Review date: 8/23/19, written by Bert Gangl of Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

 

. Record Label: Centricity Music
. Album length: 5 tracks: 17 minutes, 29 seconds
. Street Date: August 16, 2019
. Buy It: iTunes
. Buy It: Amazon.com (CD)
. Buy It: Amazon Music (MP3)

  1. Becoming (3:47)
  2. Maker Of Mornings (I Am Loved) (3:44)
  3. The Wonder (3:12)
  4. I'm Gonna Let It Go (3:09)
  5. Order Disorder Reorder (3:36)

 

 JFH Album Sample Player

 



Leave a Comment

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

Search JFH




This Friday, November 8, 2024
ALBUMS
Gabby Barrett Carols and Candlelight [Warner Music Nashville]
CXMMXNS CXMMXNS Chapter 1 - EP [Essential Worship]
New Hope Oahu There Is One - EP [DREAM]
Neal Morse & The Resonance No Hill For A Climber [InsideOut]
TAKE Time Bomb [Resuscitation Records]
Lauren Talley A Lauren Talley Christmas [Horizon]

SINGLES
Cory Asbury I Hope You Dance - Single [BEC]
Jordan Kauflin, Laura Story Approach, My Soul - Single [Getty]
Sam Bowman & GLADDEN Misfit Toys - Single [DREAM]
Wavorly Enemies - Single (independent)

VINYL
Michael W. Smith Every Christmas Vinyl [Rocketown]
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Vinyl [Frontiers]
TAKE Time Bomb Vinyl [Resuscitation Records]

DVD
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Blu-Ray [Frontiers]

Next Friday, November 15, 2024
ALBUMS
Dolly Parton & Family Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables [Owepar Entertainment]
The Lore Family Faith Over Fear [Horizon]
Fernando Ortega For All the Saints - EP (independent)
Earnest Pugh Worth is the Lamb
We Are Messengers Rejoice! (A Celtic Christmas) - EP [Curb]
Paul Wright III Reverie [United Alliance]

SINGLES
Big Dismal Here In My Heart - Single (independent)
Hannah Kerr It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Single [Curb]
Olivia Lane Silent Night - Single [BEC]
Tasha Layton Wake Up It's Christmas - Single [BEC]
Jamie MacDonald A Million Chances - Single [Capitol CMG]
Ronnie Martin On Christmas Morning - Single [Velvet Blue]
Hunter Plake Daylight - Single [BEC]
Jordan St. Cyr Christ is Here - Single [BEC]

VINYL
Sixpence None the Richer Divine Discontent Vinyl [Word]



For all release dates, click here!
 



Check out the new album from Taylor Holland Armstrong!



Listen to the new Single from Second Adam and the New Creations!

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images