REMARKABLE FULL-LENGTH DEBUT FROM RISING SONGSTRESS
Rarely does an untried name in music record not only one of the better discs in her new artist class but one of the year’s best CDs—period. Twenty-four-year-old Lanae’ Hale is that artist. And Back & Forth, her first full-length project, is that record.
Following a well-received (and reviewed) EP in 2007, Hale debuts 11 brand-new tracks, tacking on a significant amount of edgy grit that gives her buoyant vocal chops added depth and significantly matures her listener reach.
Raising the bar on Hale’s already anomalous brand of songwriter-focused pop/rock, Christian popster Mark Hammond (Nichole Nordeman, Ashley Tisdale) and Allen Salmon (This Beautiful Republic, Seabird) masterfully helm production, showcasing Hale’s vulnerable verses against an accessible radio-ready backdrop. With a voice powerful enough to soar against the pounding guitars on the really, really hip title track, yet vulnerable enough to gracethe closing lullaby “Don’t Cry” and heart-pounding ballad “If I’m Broken,” Hale is one of the freshest original vocalists in Christian music.
It’s not that she’s without influences. Hints of the Cranberries and Sixpence’s Leigh Nash are easily evidenced, but they only serve to benefit the standout singer instead of distracting with comparisons. You think, “I’ve heard that before!” until you realize not exactly—maybe a piece of this verse and part of that lick, but nothing overwhelmingly reciprocal. It makes Back & Forth sound both fresh and familiar, an incredibly marketable posture for an up-and-coming artist like Hale.
Without much prelude, Hale is quickly becoming a “ccm” original. —Andrew Greer
