Sunrise to Sunset (CD)

In today’s constantly changing musical environment, it helps to be a performer with the chameleon-like ability to flow and evolve right along with it. And Paul Wright is just that kind of an adaptable artist. His skills are evidenced by this Sunrise To Sunset release, which shows off a wide variety of the man’s admirable artistic colorations.

One moment, Wright exhibits the comfort level to fit right into the beach-ready, acoustic breeziness of “From Sunrise To Sunset,” before transforming himself into the urban-outfitted tour-de-force of the hip-hop-ish “Come Around.” In some places, such as on “Walk On Water,” Wright’s pop and hip-hop personalities naturally walk side by side. And for a little more of an international vibe, “Spirit Move” and “Resurrection” give Wright’s music a distinct reggae flavor. He tiptoes along a daring tightrope here, in that he avoids becoming too saccharine sweet on his quieter tunes, yet he never acts overly tough with his hip-hop excursions.

Lyrically, Wright pens a lot of worshipful songs, even though this is not strictly a worship album. Instead, tracks such as “I Can Feel Your Love” and “From Sunrise To Sunset” focus on how God can saturate our everyday lives, if we’d only let Him.

The beauty of contemporary pop music is how it mixes and matches seemingly mutually exclusive styles into oddly compatible forms. However, Wright spreads himself too thinly here and ought to have concentrated on the production a little more and just a few of his favorite musical styles. Nevertheless, Sunrise To Sunset is filled with many fine grooves and is well suited for both daytime and nighttime listening.

DAN MacINTOSH

Review Provided by CCMmagazine.com