At first listen, Center of Your Love, the group's third album, sounds more or less like the better part of that which plays on most inspirational radio stations. Upon closer inspection, though, a few key differences begin to come into focus. Firstly, its songs have an atmospheric, almost ethereal, quality about them that stands somewhat in contrast to the more straightforward pop-oriented fare that winds up on the Christian Hit Radio charts.
Additionally, the average track running length is somewhere around five minutes, with the longest clocking in over three minutes longer than that. Although this might seem insignificant to most listeners, the longer duration gives the songs a chance to unfold more gradually and organically than those confined to the standard three-and-a-half-minute pop format and, just as importantly, allows those who hear them a better opportunity to engage with, and stay engaged with, the reverent tone they establish.
Despite its compositions' longer duration and somewhat freer construction, the record itself never winds up being either meandering or ungrounded. On the contrary, entries like "You Satisfy" and the title cut possess solid and memorable melody lines as engaging as, or in some cases even more engaging than, that which most often inhabits the Top 40 -- making them surprising anomalies of the most pleasant kind: ambient music with a hook.
Its arguably slightly-different-than-average nature aside, Center of Your Love, like the other two releases in the Upper Room discography, still fits snugly under the broad umbrella of worship music. But the fact that it flies just far afield enough of that which most listeners typically associate with praise-oriented material means that it should not only please existing fans of that genre but perhaps even win over one or two naysayers in the process as well.
- Review date: 12/8/17, written by Bert Gangl of Jesusfreakhideout.comRecord Label: Reaction Worship
David And Nicole Binion Release First of Three New EPs Today Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:19:00 EST |
iNTELLECT Shares How Christ Took Away His Blame On New Single Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:15:00 EST |
Spoken Worth Debuts New Double Single Bundle, "Holy Week" Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:05:00 EST |
Jeff Deyo, Brenton Brown, Charlie Hall, and More Reimagine Powerful '90s Worship Songs on "Break Through the Stars" Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:55:00 EST |
NEEDTOBREATHE's Sold Out Red Rocks Performance Set to Stream Globally May 19 Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:25:00 EST |
Hezekiah Walker Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Love Fellowship Tabernacle Wed, 27 Mar 2024 14:15:00 EST |
Alex Henry Foster Announces New Album, "Kimoyo" Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:55:00 EST |
Demi-Leigh Tebow to release debut book this August Mon, 18 Mar 2024 21:20:38 +0000 |
LIFELINE CHILDREN’S SERVICES, GRUPO NELSON PUBLISHERS CO-HOST BOOK LAUNCH AND SIGNING FOR “WHOSE AM I?” Thu, 14 Mar 2024 15:49:00 +0000 |
EEM’s Bibles for Kids Initiative to Provide 570,000 Free Bibles to Children & Teens in 2024 Mon, 04 Mar 2024 22:33:43 +0000 |