Fiction Family
Fiction Family
ATO Records/Credential Recordings
(EMI CMG)
5-09992-68213-2-0
While this unlikely album from Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) and Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) channels some of the pop of the first group and the accessible bluegrass of the second, Fiction Family mostly sounds like Foreman’s fifth consecutive solo EP, with some nice harmonies and an occasional lead vocal from Watkins.

Foreman is in an incredibly fertile creative period and another—almost—solo effort that’s not concerned with Top 40 airplay is a welcome addition to his canon. And there are some really good finds. “Betrayal” is an acoustic ballad with surprisingly raw subject matter, “Elements Combined” is genres combined (bluegrass, country, pop, The Beatles), and “War in My Blood” is a beautiful water-bug-skimming-the-surface acoustic tune that plumbs the depths (“takes two to go to war but only one to fall in love”).

Foreman’s Switchfoot success has allowed him to experiment, and while experiments don’t always work, this album—which retailers should know offers very little in the way of faith content—mostly does.

The Power of One
Israel Houghton
Integrity Music (Provident-Integrity)
0-00768-45512-8
Kudos to Houghton for not staying in his comfort zone and giving listeners another standard, albeit solid, praise & worship album with those funky guitars that he and his band mates play so well. On The Power of One, Houghton finds inspiration from pop stars past and present.

He also incorporates New Orleans jazz (“UR Loved”), a ballad with restrained keyboards that sounds like Phil Collins (“I Receive”), a reggae tune on which he shouts “Jamaica” (“Surely Goodness”), and “You Found Me,” a song that Houghton does as an alternative-rock number.

In between, there’s a fairly straightforward gospel song (“Every Prayer”) and an innocuous title track that sounds like the distant cousin of Eric Clapton’s “Change the World.”

It all makes for an interesting album that will probably be well-received by Houghton’s fans. But from a critical perspective, this album is something akin to a five-course dessert after Thanksgiving dinner. Now that Houghton knows he can pull off just about anything, perhaps next time listeners will be treated to lighter fare with a few less trimmings.

North America Live!
The Hoppers
Canaan Records (Word Distribution)
8-11649-00192-7
It’s nice to hear a band that has that show-stopping quality, the “it” factor that transcends strong musicianship and well-written songs. That’s certainly the case with The Hoppers, a three-generation Southern gospel family.

For fans of the iconic singers, new album North America Live! doesn’t feature much that’s unexpected, but is fantastic nevertheless, from the fast-talkin’ “On My Journey Home” to “Jesus Saves,” a get-up-and-go Southern gospel tune that’s partly sung in a round.

If anything is surprising, it’s the level of nuance and artistry. Nowhere is that more evident than “Holy Ghost Wind,” a gentle, folksy ballad that feels like a light breeze. Yet, the best moment might come on “Blame It on Love,” when one the group’s female members opens up a can of Holy Ghost power. Like most of this album, it’s deserving of the loud applause the singers receive from the crowd.

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