Smalltown Poets, CCM Magazine - image
Smalltown Poets – ‘Say Hello’ album review
4 Overall Score

Label:

Friendly City Records

For Fans Of:

Third Day, Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Swift

We Like:

“Like Home”
Buy Now

Smalltown Poets – ‘Say Hello’ album review

For album number eight, Smalltown Poets returned to Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN, stirring memories of where many of these pop-rocker’s hits were recorded in the late 90s to early 2000s. Perhaps drawing on this inspiration, the accessible essence of their ForeFront Records debut from 1997 returns throughout their new effort Say Hello (buy), though, the guys bring a timbre complete with personal reflections, faith contemplations, and praise and worship. In other words, expect a mature, melodic record replete with hooks and some surprises (like the horn-doused “Impossible” and the Beatles‘esque mellotron throughout “Are You With Me?”), all tied around production by Matt Goldman (Third Day, Casting Crowns, Underoath, Copeland) and the seasoned players themselves. Also, keep a careful listen for Third Day’s Mac Powell on “You’re My Shepherd,” along with Eric & Ruby Montgomery and the Grace Choir during “Like Home,” perhaps the group’s greatest example of this updated homecoming.

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About The Author

Contributing Editor

Andy Argyrakis is a Chicago-based entertainment writer/photographer who appears in the Chicago Tribune, Illinois Entertainer, Daily Journal, Concert Livewire, Hear/Say Magazine and Image Chicago (to name a few). Additional photo credits include Fuse TV, Live Nation, Nikon, Pollstar, Celebrity Access, Paste Magazine, MTV.com and Vibe.com. He’s also the author/narrator of "Access Matthews" (an audio CD tracing the career of Dave Matthews Band) and spends considerable time on tour, including outings with Arlo Guthrie, The Guess Who, Madina Lake (on Linkin Park’s Projekt Revolution) and Gospel Music Channel’s "Gospel Dream" (where he served as season one judge).

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