Bethany Dillon - Stop & Listen

Producer:  Marshall Altman
Record Label:  Sparrow Records/EMI Christian Music Group
Website:  http://www.bethanydillon.com

Can you believe that Bethany Dillon is now a 21-year old married woman?  It’s hard to imagine that the Bethany Dillon that was introduced to us five years ago has gone and grown up on all of us and married Shane Barnard - front man of acoustic worship duo Shane & Shane.  Dillon wowed us with her self-titled debut in 2004 which featured a maturity in songwriting well beyond her years.  She followed that release up with two more full-length studio releases Imagination and Waking Up as well as a couple of live and special release digital EPs.  After hearing Dillon’s acoustic EP - she was pursued by produced Marshall Altman (Brooke Fraser, Warren Barfield).  The two paired up for the production of Stop & Listen - Dillon’s fourth studio release.  For the most part, Dillon stuck to her guns and wrote the majority of this release by herself.  However, she did team up with a couple of Nashville’s strongest writers on a couple of tunes - which are easily the strongest cuts on this disc.  She teamed up with her former producer Ed Cash on “I Am Yours” and first radio single “Everyone to Know” - a fun acoustic based tune that is sure to be a radio favorite.  She also teamed up with Joy Williams and Ben Glover for the alt-pop feel of “Stop & Listen” - the album standout that recalls the likes of current Joy Williams or Colbie Callait.  Elsewhere we have the same-old same-old for Dillon - which is still better than 90% of the material being released in Christian music.  “So Close” is a beautiful acoustic ballad that shows off Dillon’s enchanting vocals.  The pop/folk sound continues on cuts like “In the Beginning,” “Deliver Me,” and “Reach Out.”  Like past albums, Dillon does recall, for the most part, a young Amy Grant or Margaret Becker - two artists whom have had amazing careers in Christian music.  Overall, Stop & Listen may not cover a lot of new musical ground or lyrical territory - but there’s no denying that Dillon continues to be one of Christian music’s brightest stars.