Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Every now and again an album plops on my mat that stops me in my tracks and demands that I stop doing anything else and just listen. This is one such album! Canadian Carolyn Arends' debut is a breezy, bright, beautiful affair which combines substantial songwriting talent with perfect Brown Bannister production work to make this a strong contender for the debut of the year. Vocally Carolyn is going to face obvious comparisons with the Susan Ashtons and the Christine Dentes of this world but it won't be long before she will have carved out an equally significant spot in the higher echelons of the CCM stratosphere. Admiral Cummings and I are in agreement that this is a lady who is on her way to the toppermost of the poppermost! Musically Carolyn mixes pop, folk and country influences together, with unusual atmospheric instrumentation reminiscent of some of Julie Miller's work. Acoustic pop like "This Is The Stuff', "Love Is Always There" and "You Shall Take My Soul By Storm" is balanced by the pure inspiration of material like "Seize The Day" and "Altar Of Ego" where you can discover that Arends has much to say about the pressures and realities of life. Lyrically, she writes songs that will help you grab life by the throat and squeeze every ounce of meaning out of it. These are songs that speak of making the most of every day. In "This Is The Stuff' she sings, "Life is made of little things with love and heartache in between" and it's this appreciation of the hard realities of life that makes this a very special album. Carolyn Arends is a real talent recording real music reflecting the joys and hardships of real life. Take my word for it, this is no record company hype, 'I Can Hear You' will become one of the classic albums of the 90s.

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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