sarah masen
Jerry Ray - The Phantom Tollbooth
For the follow-up to her self-titled major-label debut, Sarah Masen could have played it safe and followed the same acoustic-pop formula that had already worked so well for her. After all, Sarah Masen was a critical and commercial success in the Christian marketplace, and even made some inroads into the mainstream, with Ms. Masen being featured in a tour of Borders bookstores and with songs from the album being used in TV shows like Party of Five and Dawson’s Creek.
Instead, Masen has veered away from the hook-laden songs of her debut to produce an album that’s perhaps a bit less radio-friendly, but one nonetheless rewarding to the careful listener. While the songs on Carry Us Through remain squarely in the mid-tempo pop arena, the musical palette is expanded to include touches of sitar, cello, flute, harmonica, banjo, and trumpet. Influences ranging from blues and gospel (“Carry Us Through”) to modern rock (“Tears Like Flowers”) are all evident on the album in various combinations, but none dominate the overall sound.
Lyrically, the album features more of the literate, poetic writing that is a Masen trademark. In “Fragrance of Pink,” she writes “I’m crashed by the nature of freedom/I’m too cracked to thrice mend/ And I’m sweating my need for redemption/While guilt beads on my skin.” For those unfamiliar with her previous work, Ms. Masen’s voice falls somewhere near the smoothness of Lisa Loeb and Shawn Colvin, with a bit of the quirkiness of Victoria Williams, and she sometimes alternates between her normal range and a playful falsetto. Masen’s earnest vocals, from the worshipful “Wrap My Arms Around Your Name” to the playful and soulful “Carry Us Through,” breathe life and genuine emotion into her lyrics.
If there’s a downside to the album, it’s a lack of variation in the tempo of the songs and the aforementioned lack of “hooks.” While this creates a project with a very cohesive, consistent sound that lends itself to straight-through listening, it also means that there aren’t really any tracks that jump up and demand the listener’s attention. But still, when the songs are this good, that’s a minor criticism. Carry Us Through definitely shows growth and change in Ms. Masen’s music, and that’s to be applauded. Approach this disc without any preconceived notions, and you’ll be rewarded with some of the most intelligent, artistic pop that the CCM world has to offer.
By Jerry B. Ray Jr for the Phantom Tollbooth – http://www.tollbooth.org
