Singing Back to You (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Matthew Wilder, Stephen Leiweke, Cary Barlowe, Gary Burnett (guitar); Matt Stanfield (piano, keyboards, programming).

Audio Mixer: Shane D. Wilson.

Recording information: Bletchly Park; Invertigo; Yackland Studios.

Singing Back to You may have been an attempt by the promising piano-based pop band to add its recognizable flair to worship standards. Or it may have been chasing the tail of the worship album fad that artists rode at length in 2005. Regardless of the reason, the album failed to build upon the Swift's trademark effervescence. The band instead relied more on a lumbering guitar sound that changed its take on songs like Delirious?' "Rain Down" and Matt Redman's "Nothing But the Blood." Released in October 2006, Singing Back to You drew criticism for its late entry into the realm of Coldplay/Keane adherents. The moments of greatness -- like their version of Hillsong's "What the World Will Never Take" -- were unfortunately overshadowed by the derivative sound. The album's strengths are its choices of cover songs and its passionate delivery. Unfortunately, CCM fans had heard plenty of Brit-pop before this was released. ~ Jared Johnson minimize