Life on the Inside (CD)

Mr. Lavik’s second outing launches him into the upper ranks of the poppy guy-with-a-guitar pantheon, alongside Bebo Norman, Warren Barfield and others. Lavik doesn’t have Norman’s songwriting chops or Barfield’s voice—but what he has is an album that’s greater in sum than its parts might suggest.

One of the album’s selling points is its consistency: there’s really not a “hit the skip button” track here. “Changing Happy” is the first soon-to-be ubiquitous single (or perhaps already so), a thumpin’ redefinition of what constitutes contentment. There’s a melodic sweetness to the songs “Father” and “What If” that’s reminiscent of Kenny Loggins’ best stuff—high praise, indeed. “Hear Our Song” sounds like a Jason Morant tune (another compliment). On the lite-rock, pseudo-title cut, “On the Outside,” Lavik sings of being an outsider in this world, a “stranger here/Living in reverent fear.” Though Lavik sounds like several other folks (add Marc Broussard and Marc Byrd to that list), he’s carving out a spot in the midst of them for himself. He doesn’t tackle anything earth-shakingly new, but his lyrics are mostly free of the clichés that pollute some Christian pop projects (heck, any pop projects). Taken bit by bit, Life may seem merely nice. But as a whole, it’s full of “oh, that’s a cool [melody/lyric/song]” moments—and tracks radio should embrace.

Lavik’s onto something here, and Life On the Inside seems like a record that could make him a Matthew West-style breakout success. At the very least, he’s made an imminently listenable project from start to finish.

BEAU BLACK

Review Provided by CCMmagazine.com