Dove Brothers post song clips from “Life”
A few days ago, when the Dove Brothers sent out an email announcing that they had posted clips of their upcoming release (Life) on their website, I started drafting a post summarizing my thoughts on the songs. But yesterday, when I visited Coomer Cove, I saw that Brandon had the same idea I did. His mini-review is done well enough that it would be a little redundant for me to say essentially the same thing.
I will make a few comments, though. There isn’t really a clear follow-up single to “I Can Pray.” Granted, short of covering Gold City’s “Preach the Word” or “About the Cross,” both of which have similar melodies, it would have been rather hard to do.
Brandon Coomer wasn’t quite sure who had the feature on song #6, “Face to Face with Grace.” He described it as “low to be Eric, but high to be David” and wondered if it could be Jerry Kelso. While I’m not completely ruling out Dove or Kelso, I am fairly certain it sounds like David Hester. He is probably the single most versatile bass in Southern Gospel, and if this is indeed him, he’s re-defined how well a low-note bass singer can sing a solo. In part since I prefer more traditional sounds, and in part due to the strength of the song itself, I imagine this will end up being my favorite song from the project.
The final song on the project, though, was what really caught my attention. I knew I’d heard it somewhere before, and shortly realized I’d heard it on Monument’s Myspace Page. When I first heard the song, I recall being slightly surprised that the only reference to God was a passing illustration on how busy Americans’ lives have become (setting aside “an hour for God”). The song was one of the country tracks on Monument’s recent crossover project.
Since the album title appears to point to this song, I’m thinking this track could be one of the more emphasized on the project. If the Dove Brothers are thinking of using the song to help open the doors to new audiences, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve tried a new direction. Their last change of course, moving from traditional to moderately progressive, brought the group quite a bit of attention, including a #1 hit and a signature song. Of course, if the Dove Brothers are viewing the track strictly as a novelty track, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve tried that, either, with 2005’s “Gossip the Gospel” being perhaps the most notable example from their repertoire.
That’s all the long way around getting to my conclusion: This could well end up one of this genre’s most talked-about projects of 2008.
Blame it on whatever you like! Fact is, my reason is simple enough: I have no interest in any secular music. 
(jealous pout)