CD Review – Joy Whitlock God and a Girl
Artist: Joy Whitlock
CD Title: God and a Girl
Style: Rock-pop-Folk
Website: http://joywhitlock.com/
Store: Ardent Music Store
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Playlist
1. Cost of Being Free
2. Faith Don’t Fail
3. Don’t look Down
4. Behind the scenes
5. Holding on to me
6. Testify
7. Not Through with you
8. Beautiful
9. Your Face
10. In this Hour
11. Traces of You
12. Psalms
13. Fake
14. Day of the Lord
I’m beginning to think that I am going to have start paying my Pastor a finders fee. For a second time I opened an email from him only to find a link to new artist that I simply fell in love with. Joy Whitlock and her new CD “God and a Girl” sings to me in a way that few artists do. With A cd that has made a near permanent home on far to small Mp3 player I am very happy to get this chance to tell you all about the CD. Joy has already become a recurring artist on the podcast, even getting a coveted Double-shot during a week of podcasts where I played my favorite songs.
Perhaps the very first thing that grabbed me was Joy’s Voice. With the power of a seeming 500 pound gorilla, this slyph of a girl belts out some serious vocals. With song styling that vary between Pop, Rock and Folk it is always good to hear a well put together album where each song doesn’t try to follow the same pop formula. I find myself thinking of the band “Blue Rodeo” while listening to several of the songs, and this is a good thing. Each song on the CD tells part of whole story. With each of these bits and pieces you learn a little more about Joy, here you can see just why the CD is called “God and a Girl”. I can believe that each of these songs were spawned out of the conversations that Joy had with God as she works her way through life. My favorite Song on the CD is the Last song of the CD and is titled “Day of the Lord”. This song is easily the most original sounding song on the CD and begins with a spoken word / whispered part that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. No one can listen to this CD and not know that it is Christian album.
If I had to pick something that I didn’t Like or perhaps the proper term is “liked less” was that if as I said each song tells part of a story I felt that I never got an entire story, I just felt that several of the songs just didn’t fit together with each other. Where I felt that each song was strong and enjoyable I also felt that the songs together were not as strong as the songs as individual songs. I almost feel like each song leaves me with questions, This is not a bad thing, but it did leave me wanting. While several of the songs did sound similar I was very happy to find that these songs were not placed next to each other on the CD.
Over all I am very happy with the CD. Several times since I got the CD I have found myself listening to the songs simply because I enjoy the CD. Especially at work where I can put the CD on Itunes and just let it play as I work. When I do this it seems to happen that just I begin to zone out into work and barely notice the music playing in the background something about one of the songs will draw me back to the music. It is clear to me that Joy’s voice demands the attention of the listener and deserves the attention of the listener as well.
I have given this CD a 4 star out of 5 rating. As I have said, this CD is a CD i am happy to play just for the joy of hearing it. Joy’s Vocal ability is clear, as is her beliefs. Perhaps this is what i found so refreshing, in a scene where many “Christian” bands are almost loathe to be classified as Christian because of the “Damage” it will do to their chances of being played. In every song her relationship with God is clear and uncompromisable. If you are still unsure about “God and a Girl” then simply take a listen to her songs on my show and you will quickly see that this CD and this Artist are both keepers.
