TBGB Pick of the Week: June 2, 2014

“Turning Away”

Bryan Andrew Wilson

EchoPark JDI (2014)

Maybe it’s me, but less can be more, especially in gospel music.  Gospel started with only piano for accompaniment.  Nine decades later, piano and voice (and organ, of course) are still the ideal combination for a Zion song.

Proof is Bryan Andrew Wilson’s introspective piano-accompanied single, “Turning Away.”  It is a personal declaration to forsake the “things that had me bound” and “the hurt and the shame” and move toward a better life.  The deft production has Wilson trading leads with himself and harmonizing with himself.  By not drowning the singer and his message out, the song makes the listener stop and listen.  Of course, the simple but lovely melody doesn’t hurt, either.

“Turning Away” is Bryan Andrew Wilson’s magnum opus and a contender for one of the best sounding gospel singles of 2014.