Reviews

Darrell Ritchie - New World Coming
Independent Review by Paul Gentry, CMCA Staff Member

Darrell Ritchie has one of the most polished promo packages I've seen from an Indie. Right off the bat, you know that he is serious about his music. Once you listen to this CD, your first impression is confirmed. This is an absolutely professional product. New World Coming is solidly Contemporary Christian. According to his promo package, Darrell prefers the term "Relevant Music". Both are appropriate. The CCM world abounds with beautiful female voices, both Indie and pro. But the style is more difficult for a man to pull off with success. Darrell Ritchie does it well.

The CD starts off with the title track. Well, it actually starts off with a humorous sound byte, but musically it's with New World Coming. This song is definitive of Darrell's style, right in the middle of today's Contemporary Christian Music genre. Heavily produced, with a lot of excellent music backing up his clear vocal, New World Coming is a good way to kick off this high quality project.

All The Heaven I Need is incredibly beautiful. There is great production on this song, blending one of his best vocals with a lovely piano part. Both the music and vocals are soothing and worshipful, and Darrell delivers a meaningful, heartfelt lead. With so many excellent tracks on this CD, this is probably my favorite.

Possibly the most addictive :-) tune on this project is One More Day. Great chorus! It has a bouncing beat, carried by a wonderful guitar lick. There is so much going on here, you'll need to listen to it several times to hear all the parts, and you will absolutely enjoy every listen of this well put together song.

Innocent Eyes is a blessing Darrell wrote for his baby, Kayla. She is most certainly loved! It's a prayer we can all lift up for our children. "May your face reflect the wonder of God's amazing grace; May your feet walk the pathway of righteousness and grace; May God's love be the tie that binds your life; May you always see the world through innocent eyes".

The backup parts on Faith In You are great! They give this song a little more of a rock feel than the others, and it works well with these lyrics. There's another good piano part here, way in the background. Incredibly, all the instrumentation on the whole project is done by multi-talented Mark Dowdy. There's a definite iron sharpening iron effect here; two talents combining to be more than they could be separately

All Hail The Power is close enough to the original hymn to evoke a comforting sense of familiarity with the listener. But Fred Norris' arrangement is updated for the 90s (and beyond!). Lift your hands in praise and sing. The additional line to the traditional hymn ("Praise Jesus for His victory, All that has breath sing forth") is an interesting change, making this song more personal.

I Am Determined works well on the heels of the previous hymn. The closest he gets to a ballad, Darrell proves that his voice doesn't necessarily need heavy backup instrumentation for a successful song.

Right Place is a good closer, a testimonial put to music that crosses CCM and jazz. The chorus is very catchy, and this song has strong radio potential, both for the Christian and crossover markets.

One thing that is clear when you turn off the CD, Darrell has a gift for the hook. The hooks will be in your mind long after your stereo is quiet. This is a studied songwriter, one whose learned skill is as evident as his God-given talent. There IS a New World Coming, and Darrell Ritchie is in the forefront of its trumpeters.

Paul Gentry, CMCA Staff