Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Every year numerous Christian ministry artists seem to momentarily abandon all aesthetic and theological reason and record one or more utterly dire Christmas songs. This year I've still got to listen to Jesus Culture's Kim Walker-Smith singing "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" but before that dubious pleasure I've got this EP from the Nashville teen popsters 1 Girl Nation. It starts with a new song "Joy" which has an attractive, catchy pop sound but a lyric that, rather than tackling biblical joy settles for banal couplets about Christmas trees and Santa trivia and no mention of the incarnation. Much better are the teen pop treatments of "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Go Tell It On The Mountain". Musically though the most interesting is "A Very A Capella Christmas Mashup" where the girls show off their harmonies in a medley which takes in everything from "Jingle Bells" to "Come All You Faithful" and even a bit of rapping. Overall, not a brilliant EP. But, when it comes to Christmas projects I've heard worse. much worse.

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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