“He Can (Work It Out)” – Youth for Christ

“He Can (Work It Out)”
Youth for Christ
From the Emtro Records CD
Thanks in Advance (2010)
www.emtro.com

The mass choir Youth for Christ was not only one of the first national artists on Troy and Emily Sneed’s Emtro Records, but it also garnered a Grammy-nomination for its first CD, Higher, and a Stellar Award for “The Struggle is Over,” the title track led by Jonathan Nelson that reached number one on the Billboard gospel singles charts and earned a Soul Train Music Award nomination. Darned good for a young choir and for a record company only seven years old.

Last July, Youth for Christ recorded its latest CD, Thanks in Advance, with twenty-somethings from Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Washington, DC and Philadelphia.

The first single from the CD, “He Can (Work It Out),” is not the frenetically-paced churchy shouter from Rev. Maceo Woods and Dr. Charles G. Hayes but an easy rocking and jazzy song that brings a message of encouragement: “Don’t fret/Be still; He can/He will.” The lovely tenor of lead vocalist Brandon Knight, who has been compared to John Legend, soars above the choir.

The song lives up to Emtro’s commitment to produce “radio-friendly” gospel music.