Rachel Lee Ann Releases New Music

Rachel Lee Ann is a Northern California-based country artist that has recently shifted into a solo career writing and playing strictly Christian pop/rock after a series of personal revelations and decisions. Up until 2014, Lee Ann was in a very successful secular country group called “Road 88” that played in the Sacramento-area circuit for many years, collecting several awards and opening for major country acts like Big & Rich and Trace Adkins. Lee Ann and her husband began to write Christian-themed material following her departure from Road 88, and eventually teamed up with producer Brian Steckler to create a debut EP, which will be out early next year. The main single on the track is “Jesus I Adore You”, and demonstrates Lee Ann’s decided change in musical priorities.

This track is very polished and is accessible enough for popular radio stations, especially those that play Christian music normally. The composition of “Jesus I Adore You” is the embodiment of everything that popular music should be, enveloping listeners in driving chorus sections and catchy hooks that ultimately center around Rachel Lee Ann’s powerful and vibrant vocal performance. This track definitely has its place as contemporary worship music that expresses Lee Ann’s position as an artist. To that end, this single is a home run, it sends the religious message that was precisely intended while being presented as a radio-ready uplifting and energetic pop song. Rachel Lee Ann has an excellent voice that is certainly suited for pop/rock, representing a cross both instrumentally and vocally between the music of Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. The song has an evenly dispersed amount of dips and peaks that allow for emotional buildup and release. One of the things that certainly can be said about Christian music is that it is never lacking in passion, and Lee Ann is no exception, the performance on this single was very honest and genuine. There is abundant lyrical content in this single, and listeners get the feeling at the song’s conclusion that Rachel Lee Ann truly does adore Jesus.

As with all radio-based pop music, this track adheres to a very ridged and conservative sound. There aren’t very many musical risks or creative ventures taken here, and Rachel Lee Ann’s vocals could probably be sang over by any number of country/pop artists without listeners noticing the difference. This is not to say by any means that Rachel Lee Ann doesn’t have a great voice, but merely to state that almost every other female vocalist on the radio today sounds like her.

This is an excellent single. “Jesus I Adore You” is a great start to a debut album from an artist that has decided to turn their talents away from the secular world into the world of worship. Yes, the track has the workings of all that is typical, and yes, Rachel Lee Ann’s sound isn’t by any means innovative or different. However, “Jesus I Adore You” is a very honest, well performed, well written single that certainly achieves its goal of delivering a religious message that can be used for worship and inspiration.

8/10 Stars

Artist: Rachel Lee Ann

Label: Independent

Website: http://rachelleeannmusic.com/

Genre: Pop Christian Rock

Sounds Like: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood

Technical Grade: 5/10

Production/Musicianship Grade: 7/10

Commercial Value: 7/10

Overall Talent Level: 7/10

Songwriting Skills: 7/10

Performance Skills: 9/10

Strengths: Catchy, driving, radio ready pop tune

Weaknesses: Very typical arrangement and overall sound

Owen Matheson