Antonia Lawrence - Up Close & Personal

Published Monday 18th November 2024
Antonia Lawrence - Up Close & Personal
Antonia Lawrence - Up Close & Personal

STYLE: Gospel
RATING 6 6 6 6 6 6
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 12379-1462
LABEL: Independent
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Antonia was born in Manchester, UK, but when she recorded this album in 1996 she led worship for the 4,000 member Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia. Her musical approach is R&B-driven gospel and engineer/producer Henry Louw wraps around her rich contralto plenty of synth washes and a bit of gently funky electronic rhythm. It all works pretty well with the background voices, presumably sistahs from Victory World, giving some classy support to Antonia as she ducks and swoops on largely mid-tempo songs and slow ballads. The big weakness is the stereotypical lyrics ("Lord I just want to praise your name/You are the one that I adore/You are the joy of my soul/Lord I just want to praise your name") sound like the lines heard or sung on a thousand different songs. Still, Antonia sings them with soulful assurance and sincerity.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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