Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

This release comes on the back of Texas-born singer/songwriter Chris August winning Male Vocalist Of The Year at the 2011 Dove Awards and contains a generous helping of 14 quality songs written by August and a handful of co-writers including Ben Glover and producer Ian Eskelin. This is undoubtedly a polished production - thanks in part to August's uncanny vocal resemblance to the ultra-smooth Michael Bublé - and songs such as the opener "Center Of It" and the gentle acoustic pop of "This Side Of Heaven" are natural born radio hits. Refreshingly though, August juxtaposes this album's otherwise slick nature with an overriding realism in relation to matters of faith with thought-provoking numbers such as "A Little More Jesus" and the wonderfully infectious "Let The Music Play" addressing ego and insecurity issues respectively whilst "Restore" and the title track confirm that hope can be found in the lowest of circumstances. Elsewhere, the nostalgic "1989" coupled with the mild funk of "Unashamed Of You" add further variety to this well-crafted and appealing release from one of CCM's most skilled exponents.

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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