STYLE: Rock RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 9230-8948 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: CD Album RRP: £4.99
Reviewed by Mike Rimmer
This Norwich-based singer/songwriter has a dramatic testimony of a life transformed from darkness to light. Her album has a retro '70s hippie, folkie feel like she hid away in a Welsh cottage and wrote a pile of songs. Hearing them, you take the journey with Helen travelling from the "Dungeons" of the opening cut to the power of the "Resurrection Tree" as she shares how her life was changed. Favourite songs? Difficult to dip into this as one song seems to wash into another without really making an individual impact but "Nasty Lies" has an enjoyable skittish, gentle, jazzy groove and I like the way "Solid Ground" explodes in electrifying fashion. It's nicely recorded and sounds like a cross between Carole King's 'Tapestry' and the mellower end of 'Led Zep III'. Unfortunately, the main weakness of the album is that despite the impact of the content and Helen's desire to communicate the amazing things that God has done for her, she needs to spend time writing songs with memorable choruses to grab our attention and pull us in. This is too easily relegated to background music rather than hooking me. But, having said that, the insights of her autobiographical lyric writing will ensure that many people will be ministered to through Helen's talent.
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