Take Over

Artist: Aaron Shust
Label: Brash Music
Genre: Pop, Contemporary, Praise & Worship

By Jenny Bennett, contributing editor, GospelMusicChannel.com

One thing worship artists tend to have in common is the unspoken, spiritual layer that a live setting brings to the music. While that sometimes doesn't translate as well on recordings, Aaron Shust is an exception.

Can something be classic and modern at the same time? I think this is it. His latest release, Take Over, deviates just enough from some sort of musical norm we seem to have become accustomed to on Christian radio, but still has tunes catchy enough for those same airwaves.

Aaron takes on an honest yet hopeful look through the eyes of faith on slower songs like "Stars Will Fall" and "Rest In the Arms," and he proves himself a modern-day hymn writer on "Live to Lose" and "Carry Me Home." These songs have the potential to be sung in churches everywhere for a long time to come, but with a decidedly modern twist: I have learned to live to lose//I have found my home in You//And I count it all as lost, it's true//'Cause I have learned to live to lose//Jesus You're the One, You're the only One for me...

The only weak point in the project for me began at track eight with the song "Ever After," because it sounded like it was the obligatory upbeat number designed to be a second single. I'd rather search, and search some more, for that unlikely favorite. For me it was "When Everything Is Beautiful." Nothing dark or edgy about it (I'm alive with the hope of a brand new day) but it's not too fast or too slow. It was just right at the moment.

"To God Alone," is an excellent choice for the first single. Be sure to catch the music video on Joyful Noise Café, weekday mornings on Gospel Music Channel.