Spensha Baker – Outloud! (tbgb review)

Outloud!
Spensha Baker
Geffen Records 2008
www.spenshaonline.com

Spensha Baker is fifteen years old, but her voice is twenty-one.

I don’t mean twenty-one in a Broadway-musical-belter sort of way, I mean an extraordinarily gifted singer who in her vocal curlicues and breath support demonstrates that she has training as well as talent. One can tell from the first few moments of Spensha’s debut CD Outloud! that she could still dazzle even if the power went off in the studio and all the instruments went silent. Having heard her sing live at the Gospel Music Workshop of America on Monday, where she was given a spot in the Gospel Announcers Guild’s coveted Chairman’s Choice showcase, I can testify to that.

Geffen Records and Executive Producers Ron Fair and Marcy Baker have pulled out all the stops on Outloud!, using vocal arrangements from the dynamic duo Mary Mary and securing a stack of outstanding songs from expert tunesters for the petite San Antonio, Texas native to deliver. And deliver Spensha does, with a lively and fresh approach that moves from energetic to worshipful to power ballad to quiet inspiration. Her voice reminds me of Bridgette Campbell (who gets props in the liner notes) and pop country star Shania Twain when she’s balladeering.

The songs’ lyrics are about inspiration, encouragement, uplift and the constant conversation between Christian and Christ to overcome life’s challenges. The Whitney Houston cover “Hold On,” for example, stresses love and support as required tools for life’s journey. Such a sentiment will undoubtedly strike a chord with listeners, whether fifteen, fifty-five, or eighty years old.

The opening track and first single, “Hallelujah,” is in Spensha’s own words a “Clark Sisters Remix” that was written originally in 1984 by Leonard Cohen and has been covered more than 120 times since.

“Purpose,” co-written by the singer, is a lovely, delicate gospel ballad that leaves the listener satisfied that here is a young woman with a promising future. Should she continue to pursue her craft and not oversing, Spensha Baker will be delighting us with her talent for years to come.

Four of Four Stars