Michael Martin – lifeStories vol. 1

Michael Martin
lifeStories vol. 1
Remaining Days Music (2011)
www.remainingdaysmusic.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

“This is the soundtrack for your life” is a tagline for Pastor Michael Steven Martin’s music. It’s certainly an apt tagline for his lifeStories vol. 1, an EP of vignettes reflecting on the drama of daily living.

Pastor Martin is a singer-songwriter who vocalizes in a smooth, confident soul style, his baritone warm and resonant, like Lou Rawls without the come-hither wink. Martin co-wrote the six selections on lifeStories vol. 1. Five of the six are songs and one, “Called into Community,” is a gentle altar call via thoughtful instruction about the role of a believing community.

The song-vignettes, all delivered from a Christian viewpoint, are delicate and introspective. Melodically they have more in common with soft pop and quiet storm R&B, while the lyrics sound pulled from personal letters, diary entries, or ad lib prayer conversations. All the songs on the EP are well-produced and well-rendered, and benefit from steady musicianship and superb piano work by Clarence Allen.

“Calling,” the opening track and current single, articulates in a mild-mannered though slightly-hypnotic pop melody the decision to leave the past behind and follow Jesus. The finest track on the set, “It’s Wonderful,” is a well-written and heartfelt love ballad from a husband to a wife after years of marriage. “Yes I Do Believe,” with its evocation of the goodness of life after salvation, has a rhythmic touch.

lifeStories vol. 1 is the first in what appears to be a planned series of at least one more lifeStories project and a lifeJourneys CD. It is a pleasant listen, something to absorb after Sunday service or in the quiet of a stormy day.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “It’s Wonderful,” “Calling.”