Rebecca St James - Transform

Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

It s a funny thing but I always think that the cover shots of Rebecca s albums have been a reflection of her development inside. With each album, she appears to be getting more gorgeous or is that there's more budget for the photo shoot (check this out if you don't believe me!) but one thing s for sure, 'Transform' is definitely her most accomplished album to date. Mixing the catchy hooky pop of previous releases but this time around giving it more of a bite musically just adds a bigger punch to the message she s carrying. Adventurous musical directions, some excellent strings (including an orchestral overture no less!) and 'Transform' is in place as a musical and spiritual adventure as thematically she explores the life transforming love of God. Vying for the best Nashville CCM album of the year, Rebecca immediately hits the mark on "For The Love Of God" with its jangling U2 style guitars and soaring strings; "Reborn" is vocoder assisted punchy dance pop. The dramatic "Merciful" is one of two songs co-written with Paul Field who also contributed the excellent closing ballad "My Hope". "Stand" is a bit of a punch the air anthem but what makes this interesting is the fact that this time out, she's willing to experiment as she takes her music in a synth driven direction with "Lean On" , a song she's wisely co-written with hot new band Earthsuit. Another interesting combination is "One" , a song co-written by genius pop writer Dan Mukala which again introduces fresh elements into Rebecca's music. This is a stonking pop album and Rebecca is to be applauded for refusing to stick to the well worn but successful formula of her last release and break out into new territory.