Music Review: The Light Meets the Dark by Tenth Avenue North

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Individually, the songs are encouraging
Cons: Taken together, they start to sound the same

The Bottom Line:

Encouraging songs

Yet things start to sound the same

Needs variety

The Light Meets the Dark is Just Gray

Last May, I discovered Tenth Avenue North's debut and fell in love with their encouraging lyrics and fun music.  I've been looking forward to their follow up, The Light Meets The Dark.  Unfortunately, it just doesn't live up to their debut.

With this release, Tenth Avenue North has firmly established themselves on the pop side of the pop/rock genre.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to call any of the songs on this disc as rock.  There are some upbeat tracks, but for the most part, things pretty much seem to be on an even keel.  And that's my biggest problem with this disc.  The songs all start to sound the same after a while.

The lyrics on the first disc were moving and inspirational.  Here, they don't seem quite as deep, even bordering on cliche.  That's even worse to me since the lyrics are usually what make or break a release for me.

There are some good tracks here.  For example, disc opener "Healing Begins" is a nice mid-tempo number that reminds us that we won't truly heal until we accept God's forgiveness.  The verses talk about how all our trying won't do any good.  It starts out rather quiet and slow, but it picks up in both volumn and tempo when they reach the first chorus.  You can even hear some strings in the midst of the guitar and drums.  It really does give me a sense of freedom to remember that God knows my faults and has forgiven them.

They up the tempo with the next track, "Strong Enough to Save."  This track is on the rock side of the spectrum, especially on the chorus, with the loud guitar and strong drum beat.  It follows up the theme of the first track by reminding us that the God who controls nature is strong enough to save us.

"The Trust is Who You Are" uses guitar to remind us that our belief in God needs to actually affect how we live.  Once again, we've got a guitar driven song that starts slow and builds to mid-tempo by the chorus.

Another favorite track is the disc closer.  "Oh My Dear" is a piano driven ballad.  The longest track here, it's absolutely beautiful to listen to.  The lyrics are pretty powerful as well.  They're written from the point of view of a person who goes over to help a friend who is going through a very rough patch, mainly due to sins of the past.  The forgiveness and love shown are convicting and heartwarming at the same time.

There are a couple songs that I find annoying because of the lyrics.  "On and On" is written from God's point of view as He reminds us of His love and sacrifice for us.  It's got a great piano and strings background that is pretty.  It's an upbeat ballad that could really deliver a powerful wallop.  Yet it leaves me feeling cold because the lyrics cover ground they've done better in other songs on their two discs.

Then there's "House of Mirrors."  And upbeat guitar track, it challenges us to break the mirror of our pasts and focus on what God has done for us.  Again, it's something they've covered before and the chorus is just so simple.  I've heard prediction it will be a concert favorite, and I think that will be the case because the simple chorus will be easy to shout out, but it doesn't make for a good song on a CD.

Frankly, this is one of those discs I think I will enjoy best in bits and pieces.  The songs are okay by themselves, so as they come through iTunes shuffle or some such program, I will enjoy hearing them.  But when I sit down and listen to them back to back, I find them lyrically and musically repetitive.

I really did want to like The Light Meets The Dark.  Tenth Avenue North has a gift for putting familiar truths into fresh, encouraging packages.  But the repetitive nature of the songs here makes it only average.

CD Length: 45:17

Tracks:

1. Healing Begins

2. Strong Enough to Save

3. You are More

4. The Truth is Who You Are

5. All the Pretty Things

6. Any Other Way

7. On and On

8. Hearts Safe (A Better Way)

9. House of Mirrors

10. Empty My Hands

11. Oh My Dear