Reviewed by Brian Carr

An album's title track tends to be the song that the artist feels is the strongest, representing the best of their creativity. That thought was in my mind as I noted the opening track, a light rock effort, solid lyrics with faint whispers of Kim Hill in Patti's vocals, but a little one-paced perhaps, benefiting from a cut in tracktime length. This opener was not to be the album's crowning glory but rather a firm springboard into a whirlpool of the Tasa talents. Delicate, acoustic "In Need Of Grace" stirs my interest, where Patti's expressive tones are perfectly complimented by the backing vocals of Ron Stevens. Celtic influences are next to emerge on "You Are Beautiful", enhanced by penny whistle courtesy of Teresa Baker. Just as you are being lulled into sleepy haze, a wake up call to have you kicking off your carpet slippers and pulling on your high heel western boots comes next. "I Am Your God" is a lively hoe down with a touch of the Irish, fiddle and all, a track to take to your next line dance session. Patti demonstrates she can do the slow and moody, aided and abetted by pedal steel guitar, she doesn't claim to have answers to life's hard questions, but "Through It All" makes positive out of the negative, "He gives you peace/Time to learn to fly." A clever upbeat arrangement offsets a difficult topic of why we must suffer on "Mercy" ("Make me fruitful in the land of my affliction"). Skip Parente's fiddle makes a welcome return on "Do You Want To Know" ("Do angels sing la la la la la ?"). I am sure they would join in with the song of a young runaway. Electric riffs to the fore on the catchy "Dream A Little Dream", In fact a debut album such as this would be many a person's dream. This is exemplified by the closing track "He Is All I Need", with Patti's intimate whispered interpretation in a clarity of voice as is the norm through all the album. The producer wisely doesn't clutter this final track with over instrumentation, but leans heavily on the piano of Jean-Pierre Garau.

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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