Casey J “The Truth” Album Review

Prime Cuts:  Let It Be Known, Oh You Bring, Journal 

With her big, attention-drawing, booming voice, Casey J could make the reading of the phone book sing.   She could have opted for a sinecure by churning out yet another Gospel album.  And she could still be able to shift a truckload of CDs off the shelves.  Rather, with her debut live album released via Marquis Boone Enterprises /Tyscot Record, Casey has taken to select worship songs that are embracing of her diverse audience.  Never one to be stymied in a genre, here you will find Casey J wrapping her India Arie-seque vocals around some soul-infused numbers, rising up to the rock infused sounds of worship, and thumbing out her best and the most spirited Gospel call-outs.  Further, unlike many worship leaders who see themselves more as rock stars indulging in their own compositions, throughout the record, Casey J gets the congregation engaged in two ways.  First, she made sure that her new compositions are interspersed with familiar worship anthems. Second, Casey J doesn't just sing, she leads.  She engages the congregation in worship such that we are not just spectators but she inspires us to worship along too.

"The Truth" isn't the Casey J first exposure as a singer.  She started as one quarter of the gospel girl group 4LOVE.  Together, they were featured on The Brown Boyz' Top 30 hit "Better Dayz" in the spring of 2012. They also made some noise with the concept music video for their bouncy radio tune "Praise."  Praise has been an essential part of Casey J's life from the start. Both her mother and grandmother Dorothy Mae sang in the gospel choir at Lily Hill Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.  "The Truth" is however Casey J's debut live album that she recorded earlier in the year live at the Fresh Start Church in Duluth, GA.  The night got off a good start as Casey J knocks off racial and international boundaries with her pulverizing vocals as she renders a rousing stadium rock version of British band Worship Central's "Let It Be Known."  

This is followed by the title cut "The Truth," which is one out of seven cuts on the album co-penned by Casey J herself.  With a thumping beat and a bullet-train melody, "The Truth" is a doctrine affirming song that makes declaration some of the truths about Jesus articulated through the pages of Scripture.  Gospel artist Jason Nelson (who recently scored a #1 with "I Am") adds his grainy tenor to Casey J's multi-octave croon on the crescendo building prayer of surrender "Have Your Way."  Most refreshing is Casey J's take of Hillsong UNITED's "Oh You Bring."  While the original suffers from Matt Crocker's somehow muffled vocals, Casey J adds command and clarity to this ode to how God opens us to the truth of Christ's sacrifice.  Not never one to neglect her Gospel roots, Casey J throws back to the past when she invites her 84-year-old grandmother Dorothy Mae Choates to sing the hymn "No Not One" with her.

"Fill Me Up," a Jesus Culture original, finds Casey J taking her time to invoke God's presence calling to mind the awe-inspiring moments when the prophet Elijah called up fire to consume the sacrifices in 1 Kings 17.  Taking a recess from the big sounds is "Journal."  On this piano ballad, Casey J gets introspective as she sings a personal love song to Jesus of how he pieced her life together despite her failings.  This is one ballad that will stop us in our tracks with Casey J's sobering honesty and heartfelt passion.  Thus, what gives "The Truth" depth and dimension is that this is a worship album that is upward reaching towards God, yet inward searching delving into our souls.

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