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Harriet Vanderpool – I Can…
Harriet Vanderpool
I Can…
Tate Music Group (2010)
www.tatemusicgroup.com
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.
Virginia-born Harriet Vanderpool is a praise and worship leader for Victory Life Ministries in Chesapeake, Virginia. She has also spent time directing choirs and singing on the stage. I Can… is her latest solo project.
The album opens with “Moment in Time.” This mid-tempo reminder to praise right now because “this may be the last time” is, to my knowledge, one of the first contemporary gospel songs to be introduced by an old Irish melody that is not “Londonderry Air.” Otherwise, the CD is awash in an ‘80s vibe, due largely to its reliance on electric keyboard, synth, and lush melodies. The pretty “Everything for Love” has the most potential as a song composition. “You Were There,” with its singsong motif on “in the morning when I rise,” and the ballad “After All” are especially evocative of the soft-soul ‘80s.
Although Vanderpool is a sweet singer and ought to be more dominant on the ballads, she sounds most confident leading the high energy, island-infused title track (featuring Holyboy). She has control of, and sings prettiest in, her mid-range, but outside that range, her voice varies unpredictably from full-bodied to thin.
Lyrically, the songs express Vanderpool’s love for God in a myriad of ways, and her praise as the vehicle to let others know. Two exceptions are “We Can Make It Last,” a song for troubled couples who desire to recommit themselves to “one more chance.” The follow-up, “This Time,” features Harriet and her husband, Grant, on a duet about how to “make it last” with the help of God. All but one of the selections on I Can… were written by Harriet or Grant, or the two together.
I Can…has its moments but, overall, the results are mixed.
Two of Five Stars
Picks: “Everything for Love”
2012-09-19 06:26:39
Source: http://www.theblackgospelblog.com/2012/09/harriet-vanderpool-i-can.html
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