Ryan delivers a decent second album

Ryan Stevenson is back, and this time with his second album! This gifted artist stands out with his clear vocals and contemporary pop rock sound that sounds perfect for a versatile use in church services. It is roughly three years after “Fresh Start” and you’ll notice the artistic journey that Ryan Stevenson had made during these three years.

The album starts off with his single release “Lift You Up” from October 2017. It still has a contemporary sound, but it doesn’t sound like a real game changer. The second song “Child In Your Arms” seems to score better at this point, with its Future Bass-esque influences it seems to captivate you better toward it’s hook. The third song “No Matter What” is an interesting collaboration with Bart Millard, it has some elements of slow jam, R&B and of course Ryan’s signature pop rock sound.

The fourth song “The Gospel” is nothing less than his absolute hit release single from March 2017 and it still sounds absolutely amazing, great call to include this song in the album! After that we are treated with “Faithful” an awesome pop duet, which includes a great collaboration with Amy Grant. It is a great song to go towards the interlude “Welcome to Bonanza”.

his seventh song “Single-Wide Dreamin’” builds up towards a more celebration part of the album, it has some interesting elements from pop rock bands from the late ’90s and early ’00s. His eighth song “Always Been You” seem to continue with this style. The song has a rather long buildup but, but doesn’t seem to really drop, this causes the song to sound a bit more generic that what it could have been. However, the bridge is quite sentimental and captivates well enough to stay interesting.

The closing song of the album “With Lifted Hands” starts out as a sensitive pop ballad that illustrates the act of conversion pretty well. Great inner room music.

This second album seems to deliver enough to stay interesting and is certainly usable for many uses in different settings and media outlets. All with all a decent performance of Ryan Stevenson for his second album! 3,5 stars.

Ramesh Sital