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28th February, 2006
JUSTIN
MICHAEL
Artist: juliagrace
Album: juliagrace
Label: Parachute
Music, 2006
Enhanced
content: No
In A Word: Exciting
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"There is a maturity here that is rare in a debut
and gives a feeling that these songs have been wanting
to come out for a while."
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The girl loves
the Eighties, loves getting dressed up, admits to performing
in a ra-ra skirt she brought in Brisbane, performs and writes
with passion and just happens to be a part of New Zealand's
biggest praise and worship export, the Parachute Band. She
is juliagrace and she has a brand new, self-titled, debut,
solo album.
juliagrace, formerly lead singer of electronic outfit Elevator,
has now stepped out by herself as a solo artist as well as
taken the opportunity to play guitar and sing with the Parachute
Band.
juliagrace the album is an insight into a person
who seems to have been waiting a long time to make this record.
There is a maturity here that is rare in a debut and gives
a feeling that these songs have been wanting to come out for
a while. There is the introspection of first single Carry
Me Away with its sense of a prayer for help, the worshipful
Beautiful One pointing to her influence from the
Parachute Band experience and the social comment of Why
Is She Crying? - "(I)ts hard to face another
day in this uncertainty, caught in a spiral of reasoning".
Musically there is melange of sounds that will surprise, comfort
and have you reaching for your music collection of the last
30 years to research the ‘now where have I heard that
before?’.
There is the trip-hop of Portishead in Why Is She Crying?,
I may have heard some Enya in Beautiful One, there’s
new-new-wave of Reflection and then there’s
the block rockin' beats/electrogirl of Electrical.
Still, the album contains this all in a sound that will excite
rather than confuse.
These kind of albums come around all to rarely in Christian
contemporary music. An artist that is attempting to be cutting-edge
in an arena that typically likes beige in its music. May I
suggest you sit down with a good set of headphones, turn the
stereo to your favourite volume and get comfortable!
Justin
Michael can be heard weekday mornings on Geelong-based radio
station 96.3 - www.rhemafm.org.au.
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