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By Kevin Pollard
• Christy Nockels: Life Light Up, sixsteprecords
Christy Nockels was first known as the lead vocalist of the duo Watermark, with
husband Nathan; most recently, she has been acclaimed as a Passion Conference
worship leader.
Her debut solo album is produced by her spouse on sixsteprecords – the label of Chris Tomlin and the David Crowder Band.
Given Nockels’ pure vocal ability, I fully expected to hear an easy listening worship style,
the likes of Laura Story or Brooke Fraser. But instead, she offers a
larger-than-life pop/rock worship sound the likes of Lincoln Brewster, Hillsong
United and Chris Tomlin.
Highlights include the pop anthem ‘No Not One’ (co-written with Brandon Heath) and the title track , which is a passionate,
genuine cry for God’s greatness to be known in this world.
The album is full of great new original worship songs.
Only two cover songs included are: Charlie Hall’s ‘Marvelous Light’ and Brooke Fraser’s ‘Hosanna,’ which Nockels also recorded for Passion: God of This City.
christynockels.com
• Matt Brouwer: Where’s Our Revolution, Black Shoe/Universal
Acclaimed Canadian singer/songwriter Brouwer has received six Covenant Award
nominations for this, his latest recording; and it was just re-released as a
deluxe edition by Universal Music Christian Group.
He was nominated for Album of the Year; Pop/Contemporary Album; Male Vocalist;
Recorded Song, for ‘Come Back Around’; and Folk/Roots Song of the Year for ‘The Other Side’ (featuring Amy Grant and Vince Gill).
His third album was produced by Michael Omartian(Whitney Houston, Rod Stewart,
Amy Grant) and continues on the honest and organic songwriting found on his ‘Unlearning’ album.
But this time, he brings in elements of folk/country as heard on ‘All the Way,’ ‘A Love that Saves Me’ and ‘The Other Side.’ mattbrouwer.com
• Pure NRG: The Real Thing, Word Entertainment
Although this tween dance pop trio has just released their fifth disk, since
their debut a mere two years ago, it is only on this latest one that they seem
to have got everything right.
Their previous efforts have been your typical Disney pop fare, with little
evidence of their faith in their lyrics. But on this release, they mix the
summer fun of tracks like ‘Radio’ and ‘The Real Thing’ with a handful of songs that are spiritually-anchored – as heard on ‘It’s All About You,’ ‘Savior,’ ‘Sweet Jesus’ and the bouncy remake of ‘Live to Worship.’ Other highlights here include the song of forgiveness, ‘Before the Sun Goes Down’; and the self-esteem building ‘Cover of a Magazine.’
purenrgonline.com
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• Aaron Shust: Take Over, Brash
Although still not a household name in Christian music, worship
singer/songwriter Shust garnered radio success with ‘My Savior, My God’ from his debut album, a little over three years ago. That song went on to
receive the Dove Award for Song of the Year. Fast forward to 2009, and his
third album. Take Over is a collection of 11 new praise and worship songs, all written by Shust and
co-writers such as Ian Eskelin, Matthew West and Brandon Heath.
Although there is not a lot of stylistic diversity found here, there are some
outstanding cuts. Highlights include the hit single, ‘To God Alone’; the stand-out rock track, ‘Come and Save Us’; the Brit-pop sounding ‘Stars will Fall’; and ‘Ever After’ where the singer takes on the task of disillusioning a friend about hoping in
anything other than Christ.
Shust sings: “There’s no such thing as Peter Pan, no such place as Never Never Land . . . We won’t find our happily ever after here. There’s no such thing.”
aaronshust.com
November 2009
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