Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

She's been recording since the age of 14 so that makes 23 year old Mandie Pinto a bit of a veteran and 'Better Things' her fourth full length album. Hailing from Southern California, her music ministry is mainly church-based where she sings in services throughout the region. When it comes to independently recorded pop albums, Mandie manages to create work of a consistently high standard in production, performance and songwriting. Her last album 'Count All Your Blessings' was released back in 1998 and it struck me as being as good as anything released on a CCM label. 'Better Things' continues the journey and sees Mandie writing the majority of the songs. When it comes to songwriting, she has co-written with some of the best in CCM - Steve Siler, Bob Farrell, Dwight Liles and Scott Krippayne - so you can imagine what the quality is like here. To put you in the picture, musically it fits into the same category of grown up pop as an artist like Jaci Velasquez covering the same kind of inspiring lyrical ground as Crystal Lewis. There's plenty to get excited about here and picking favourites is difficult but the huge ballad "In The Image Of God" and the catchy pop of "Sanctify Me" nudge ahead.

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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