A Different Man

wie neu

With his boyish good looks and lightweight pop songs, the Clay Crosse who arrived on the Christian music charts in 1994 was better known for glossy, radio-friendly ditties than for artistic substance. But A Different Man, his fourth studio album, sees the singer in transition. Here, Crosse gets co-writer credit on eight of the 10 tracks, a sign he's becoming more invested in what the songs have to say. And, it turns out, they say plenty.

Addressing topics from racism to sin to redemption, this isn't a feel-good, "everything's fine" album. It's an honest exploration of trials and triumphs in Christian life, and by choosing to go there Crosse has raised himself to a new standard.

Fueling this project is Crosse's reckoning with (and overcoming of) a spiritual staleness in 1998. That experience yields the album's most endearingly honest cuts: "Sinner's Prayer," where he acknowledges, "Where I've been, I tell You, You don't want to be," and "98," where he explains, "For all I've learned, the days I lived it were so rare." But that's not to say Crosse wallows in the dark. Resolution arrives, whether it's in his recognition of God's faithfulness in "Arms of Jesus" or a rededication of love to his wife in "Walk With Me." These two ballads in particular showcase a strong, soulful voice.

Musically, A Different Man finds Crosse on a quest to add a contemporary edge. For the most part, he and producer Regie Hamm succeed, with a Matthew Sweet-like synthesizer line driving the rocker "Be The Word" and gorgeous nylon acoustic guitar on closer "More Like You." And the crossfade from "98" to "What Would You Do For A King?" features piano and strings that recall 1970s Kansas. Pretty cool.

There are a couple of missteps, though, such as the awkward attempt on "No Fear" to rhyme "inertia" and "worse" by pronouncing the latter "wor-sha." And the faux-Caribbean rap in the middle of that song is embarrassing in its stereotyping. Nevertheless, Clay Crosse model 2000 is a reinvigorated soul, and A Different Man shows it.

k.A.