Freshly signed to Inpop Records, Sarah Brendel is ready to jump in with both feet into Christian music. This talented new artist began gaining notoriety in her home country of Germany before earning a record deal here in the States. Now with a collection of ten tunes, this rocking twenty-something-year-old is ready to step out and make her foray into Christian music.

As Sarah Brendel begins, her energetic pop/rock vibe leads and takes over from there. Opening with the upbeat "Commodity," Brendel's first major label project finds itself instantly enjoyable. Singing of her desire to be an original rather than just another copy, immediately the opening cut presents itself as a standout track. The record continues to press forward with the super-charged "Fire," where Brendel cries to God that it would be "More of You and less of me" in her life. Though the first two tracks offer themselves as slightly edgier numbers, she cools things down with the lighter rock fare of "Turn" and "Breathing In." Though the disc is based primarily off pop/rock tones, it at times holds an eclectic mix of sounds; for example "King I Love" carries folk leanings while "Confused" rings with youthful exuberance. Fans of the now retired The Benjamin Gate will notice that Sarah Brendel's vocals bear similarities to the band's former lead singer Adrienne Liesching-Camp with a dash of Kainos' Hannah Stacy. Despite the fact that Sarah Brendel contains comparisons to other Christian rock artists, don't mistake this debut disc as an unoriginal, familiar project. Sarah Brendel's work is refreshingly unique and creative.

Sarah Brendel's self-titled debut is great and well-worth checking out. She manages to skirt around cliches and stale, overused sounds. Hopefully, Brendel will keep up the pace to offer us many more of these exciting projects in the future.

- Review date: 7/15/05, written by Lauren Summerford