Love
Letters & Soul Shower
Londa
Larmond, Love Letters, 2001,
EMI Gospel
Lynda
Randle, Soul Shower, 2000,
True Tunes Records + Rhythm House Records LLC
Reviewed by Lakesha Stokes
August 20, 2001
Gospel, Christian contemporary, and other categories of Christian music are
thriving businesses. If you ask most people who have no idea about Christian
music, they assume that it sounds like most of the stuff they hear and witness
on Church TV or whatever the name of it is.
Some of it is excellent
music, but most of it is questionable. I
cannot be convinced otherwise.
As
Christians, we know that there is starting to be as much variety at Christian
bookstores as secular music stores, but with cleaner lyrics. Because of this,
the Christian music industry is developing.
In
the St. Louis area I have yet to find a good Christian music station.
Therefore, when buying a Christian CD, I learn about it from hearsay,
previous experience with a group or musician, or by listening to the first or
second song of a CD. I don’t have the time or patience to stand in a music store
all afternoon. I’d rather someone
gave me a gift certificate for my birthday instead of being nice and buying a CD
for me, because I probably won’t like it.
Two musicians that I hadn’t heard of until this summer
are Londa Larmond and Lynda Randle¾two
young black musicians with different voices and musical styles.
I bought Londa Larmond’s CD from a Canadian Christian bookstore, and
Lynda Randle’s CD was given to me.
Londa
Larmond is a musician whose debut album was basically destined not to fail.
Several reasons include:
·
She’s a Canadian of Jamaican descent who once sang with Sharon
Riley’s Group, the Faith Chorale.
·
Her producers and writers have worked with the likes of Stacie
Orrio, The Katinas, dc Talk, T.D. Jakes and Shirley Caesar.
·
One of the songs has background vocals by Anointed.
There
are many gospel artists who have that familiar “gospel sound.”
For many songs, you probably think, “I have heard that voice somewhere
before.” Londa is a singer who
would fit that image. She has a fabulous voice, but I just couldn’t figure out if
it was her style coming out on this album or if it was just the work of her
producers. Since this is her first
CD, the latter is possible.
Larmond
uses an R& B style of music with a little bit of urban gospel, a little
jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary gospel. One
thing that I like about this album is the message.
On this album there is no doubt that Londa is glorifying and praising
Jesus Christ through her lyrics.
Favorite
songs include:
·
“Better Days”—She is joined by Darwin Hobbs, who has a
tremendous voice. (Reminder to
myself—check out one of his albums.) This
song is a cue to Christians that no matter what we go through in life, there are
better days ahead.
·
“Love Letter”—It addresses the Word of God that is for us
today through examples¾because
He loves us.
·
“Help Him Stand”— with background vocals provided by
Anointed.
I
was convinced that Lormond’s CD would be good quality, but I wasn’t sure
about Lynda Randle. After receiving
her CD, I noticed she looked familiar. I
couldn’t put my finger on it until I did a little research. She is the sister of Michael Tate from dc Talk.
You will see the resemblance right away.
If you aren’t familiar with her from her brother, then you might have
noticed her on the Gaither Homecoming videos and various other Gaither music.
Don’t worry; her style is not Southern Gospel!
Her music is like a big pot with blues and urban folk rock thrown in and
mixed, with a little bit of other styles dropped in for good measure.
She has an edge with this style because it appeals to varying ages.
Lynda
Randle spent her early years in Washington, D.C., where her dad was an
evangelist in the inner city. You
can imagine what her life must have been like.
Because of Lynda’s poor grades in public school, her parents placed her
in a predominantly white Christian school, and this experience altered her life.
She joined the only choir in school, and from that experience she found
her niche. She felt God begin to
direct her in a call to worship Him through music and singing.
She took the bad experiences of her life and brought them to her music.
Lynda’s
husband, Mike Randle, had a background similar to hers.
He grew up in the inner city of Kansas City and had a dramatic
conversion. Because of this, he
chose to work with youth with a background similar to his.
When they can, the Randles work together in ministry. Randle truly
believes that through her music and ministry she can build bridges between the
races. Not a bad concept.
After
listening to just one song on this, I fell in love with her voice.
There is an individuality to her voice that is refreshing.
Some reviewers have said that if you like the music of Bonnie Rait and
Tracy Chapman, then you would enjoy Randle’s music.
What’s so unbelievable is the fact that her voice is a pull from the
best quality of both voices and styles. Some of you with quality Christian radio
stations have probably heard a few of her songs.
I
have several favorite songs from this CD, but I’ll only mention three:
·
“He Is God”— is a song about all the things that prove that
there is no other God. This song will have you dancing all over your room. I
also really enjoy the tambourine (yes tambourine!) inserts on this particular
song.
·
“Carry Me”— which talks about allowing God to help us with
our burdens when we are tired in our spirit.
·
“Until I See You Again,”— which is a tribute to her late
father.
This
CD has a lot of songs that would be good for choruses in a youth service,
especially if you have somebody with a guitar that leads the worship.
(Just make sure you brush up on your knowledge of copyright laws before
you go projecting these songs on a screen and singing them. Many churches have
been fined and sued for that. If
you don’t understand, go to your local Christian bookstore and ask for a book
on it.)
I
highly recommend both of these CDs. If
you like urban gospel, buy Londa Lormand. If
you lean toward the folk sound, Lynda Randle is the better choice for you.
ninetyandnine.com
©
2001, Lakesha Stokes
---------
Lakesha
Stokes is an elementary music teacher in the St. Louis area. She earned a
Church Music degree from Gateway College of Evangelism and a Bachelor of Arts in
Church Music/Music Education from Missouri Baptist College. She is presently
working on her Master of Arts in Vocal Pedagogy at Webster University.
Works
Cited
www.londa-larmond.com
www.airborneaudio.com
www.rhythmhouse.com
www.inspirationalmall.com
www.gaithernet.com
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