Carmen D’Arcy - A Place Called Grace

Producer:  Bryan Lenox
Record Label: Brickstreet Records/KOCH Records
Website:  http://www.carmendarcy.com

Unfortunately, female artists are scarce these days in the CCM world, so I’m always anxious to hear anyone that’s giving it a go. Carmen D’Arcy debuted in April with A Place Called Grace, and thankfully, she’s not in need of too much of that “grace” from me.  She sounds like Twila Paris, crossed with the wonderful Jaime Jamgochian and maybe a little Darlene Zchesch too. Needless to say, she has an enjoyable tone to her voice. Her songs are upbeat and happy with catchy melodies and beautiful instrumentation. I’m almost positive that one of D’Arcy’s background singers is the amazing Ronnie Freeman, and if it’s not, I’m not as good a fan as I claim to be.  This is definitely a worship album, though I’m not so sure Carmen should limit her artistic range by defining herself as a worship artist. She could easily do other things, not that she will want to. She is a full time worship leader and seems very devoted to that. She takes great care in writing her music for the church. Things that are easy to pick up and that people will connect with are everywhere. I think Carmen did a great job of choosing songs for this record. They all fit the previously mentioned criteria as well as being strongly written. I will say that the themes and hooks are nothing original, and as a songwriter myself, I would have liked to have seen something a little more creative in the craft of these songs. However, she is excellent at the simplicity of worship, and I can’t really complain too much about that as a listener and worshipper.  This record accomplishes what worship music is supposed to accomplish. It engages and encourages you to worship. It makes worshipping God easy. A Place Called Grace is a very clean record, and it sticks out among the sea of over produced, layered guitar upon guitar, poorly written verse after verse of praise and worship music that is out there today. Bravo Carmen! I’d love to hear what a live album would sound like.

Purchase A Place Called Grace.

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