Hope Askew – Breakthrough

Hope Askew
Breakthrough
Weksa Music (2011)
www.hopeaskew.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

A former R&B singer who gave her life to Christ in 2000, Hope Askew of Portsmouth, Virginia is now an urban inspirational singer-songwriter. Last August, she released Breakthrough, her third CD and first for her own label Weksa Music (Askew spelled backwards).

The new album blends the singer’s former dalliance with pop, R&B, jazz and neo-soul with inspirational and traditional lyrics. “Breakthrough” is the theme, and as Askew explains poetically in the introduction, the breakthrough process can be a transformation of the mind from the heaviness of old baggage into a new life with new possibilities. In Askew’s case, the new possibilities included freedom from what sounded like a serious illness. While spoken word intros can be distracting, this one made sense as the lead-off track because it set the tone for the rest of the CD.

Later, on the title track, Askew uses the story of the woman seeking to touch the hem of Jesus’s garment as a metaphor for finding one’s breakthrough. She goes on to explain the genesis of “Oh” by hearkening back to her bumpy transition from illness to wellness through praise and belief. The dream that inspired “Oh” was populated with an angelic choir lifting diseases by simply naming them. Askew converts the angels’ moan into the melodic thread of “Oh.”

“You’re the One” is the album’s current hit single and its finest selection. The praise song benefits from Askew’s strong and pretty vocal delivery of a happy melody. “Can’t Make It” is another pleasant contemporary song, as is “TIME (Tears In My Eyes). “Love All Over the Land” is a sweet ode to brotherly love.

Askew has the kind of voice that is showcased best with “less is more” instrumentation. As such, an acoustic piano would have been preferable to the album’s emphasis on electronic keys and synth. In fact, if Askew ever does an album of inspirational songs with only piano, string bass and snare, I think it will be quite something.

Nevertheless, Breakthrough has a sufficient number of lovely contemporary songs to keep the listener satisfied.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “You’re the One,” “TIME (Tears In My Eyes).”