Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Kentucky-based gospel singer Gerald Harris has followed up his 2012 album 'Latter Rain' with a collection of eight self-produced songs that seek to highlight God's grace at every turn. Taking on much of the instrumentation duties himself, Harris opts for the kind of laid back MOR soul found in the '70s which suits his consistently warm and accomplished vocal delivery - somewhere between Bill Withers and Aaron Neville - whilst a gospel choir pops up here and there to add some pizazz to proceedings. Unfortunately, the vocal prowess of Harris and his backing singers is let down by the standard of musical accompaniment and this is where this album falls down. For instance, what sounds like a drum machine has been used on most tracks - nothing wrong with that - but the beat created is often noticeably out of time which serves only to distract and detract from some otherwise good songs. As result, the other instrumentation tends to appear clunky as it attempts to fit in with the out-of-kilter beat on tracks that would undoubtedly shine in the hands of studio musicians. Numbers like the blues-tinged and Easter-themed "Lord Was Already Gone" offer up an alternative to Harris' default gentle soul style whilst the title track and the uplifting "How Blessed I Am" - both of which benefit from some much improved production - prove that Harris most definitely has got what it takes to turn out something special.

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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