Sounds like … guitar-driven adult contemporary pop that now more closely resembles the work of Avalon, Crystal Lewis, Nichole Nordeman, and Natalie Grant.
At a glance … Point of Grace has the right idea by simplifying their sound a bit, but the songs they're singing are as formulaic as ever.
With more than 5 million albums sold and an astounding 24 consecutive #1 radio hits to their credit, they're easily one of the most enduring acts in Christian music. But recently, the future of Point of Grace became uncertain. After their last studio album in 2001, Free to Fly, the quartet focused their attention on building families while launching their popular Girls of Grace conferences for teenage girls in 2002. The following year, Terry Jones retired to spend more time with her family.
Still, Shelley Breen, Heather Payne, and Denise Jones decided to continue, adding the vocals of Leigh Cappillino, a former member of Truth and a featured worship leader from the Women of Faith conferences. She's a fine replacement for the group, but more interestingly, Point of Grace sees the lineup change as an opportunity to slightly alter their sound for their latest studio effort, I Choose You. They set out to make an album that could be performed live and still sound like the record; no overproduced pop with stacked vocals. A refreshing idea, the willingness to try something new after a decade-it's not as if they're switching to heavy metal or something.
Actually, it might surprise Christian music fans to learn that half of I Choose You was produced by David Zaffiro, lead guitarist of '80s Christian metal band Bloodgood. However, he also co-wrote "Amazing" on Point of Grace's Steady On album, and his own solo work in the early '90s offered similarly tame guitar-driven pop. Wayne Kirkpatrick produced four of the more acoustic pop flavored songs, while Mark Hammond (Nichole Nordeman) and Brent Bourgeois (Streams) helmed two other tracks. Additionally, Point of Grace and company made a concerted effort to utilize fresh songwriting talent, rather than rely on the usual Christian AC pop tunesmiths. Regulars like Scott Krippayne and Jess Cates do make contributions, but we're also introduced to work by Matthew West, John Waller (According to John), and Sam Mizell (Jessie Daniels)....
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