Get Your Music on Amazon!
Get Your Music on Amazon!

JFH Music Review


Sanctus Real, This Is Love - EP
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

Sanctus Real
This Is Love - EP



Artist Info: Discography
Genre(s): Pop / Rock
Album length: 3 tracks: 12 minutes, 24 seconds
Street Date: February 5, 2016


READER RATING:   


Lead singer changes are a tricky beast. It can draw in new fans, alienate old ones and it can sometimes risk looking like a marketing ploy. With Matt Hammitt having been the voice of Sanctus Real for 19 years, fans were swirling with curiosity and maybe even some doubts when the band announced they'd be continuing on without him. The question had to be asked: how can anyone fill the shoes of Matt Hammitt?

The new lead singer, Dustin Lolli, has a significantly deeper voice than Hammitt, but the transition is not as dramatic as initial listens suggests--they are both honest in their songwriting and earnest in their vocal delivery. A little background on Lolli, he was previously the vocalist for Cannons, a pop/rock band who drew its influences from Sidewalk Prophets and Tenth Avenue North. More recently, Dustin and his wife Sarah performed as the singer/songwriter duo James and June. His experience as a singer is obvious, and it was both wise and respectable of Sanctus Real to bring on a lesser-known talent for this next chapter in their collective career.

To accompany Lolli's husky vocals, the band has taken a decidedly more "epic" approach to their brand of radio-friendly pop/rock. "This Is Love" perfectly illustrates this new direction. The song opens with Dustin's pensive vocals and a light electric guitar, gradually layering in piano, drums, acoustic guitar and strings. It builds in intensity until the 2:43 mark, sits in 7 seconds of quiet tension, and erupts with a blazing guitar riff, rousing drums, and powerful singing/shouting from Lolli. The songwriting is just as evocative as Lolli calls out Christians who hide in fear or don't practice what they preach, challenging them to fulfill their responsibility to act in love.

Though it also takes a while to get going, "Find Me" is an upbeat tune pulled off with skill and confidence. It's the most radio-ready of the three new tunes, but it is more dynamic than the average CCM pop song. The piano ballad "My Desire" concludes the 12 minute EP as a heartfelt prayer to be more like Jesus. "Find Me" and "My Desire" are both solid cuts, but neither of them grabs your attention as much as "This Is Love," particularly in lyrical poignancy.

While it seems too soon to tell if we will ever get another album as high in quality as found in the early years of Sanctus Real, these three songs present a more ambitious side to Sanctus Real, something we started to see again on The Dream. While there may not be anything groundbreaking on this EP, it is far less cookie-cutter than Run and more durable than The Dream. If This Is Love is any indication of the future for Sanctus Real, it looks promising.

- Review date: 2/6/16, written by Christopher Smith of Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Listen to the debut EP from the band Hopeful.!

 

. Record Label: None
. Album length: 3 tracks: 12 minutes, 24 seconds
. Street Date: February 5, 2016 (iTunes) / February 12, 2016 (Wider Release)
. Buy It: AmazonMP3

  1. This Is Love (4:25)
  2. Find Me (3:51)
  3. My Desire (4:08)

 

 

 

 

 

 



Leave a Comment

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Listen to the debut EP from the band Hopeful.!

Search JFH




This Tuesday, March 26, 2024
ALBUMS
Brandon Lake Apple Music Nashville Sessions - EP [Provident]

This Thursday, March 28, 2024
ALBUMS
David And Nicole Binion The Revelation Of Jesus - EP [Integrity]
The Rocky Valentines Erase [Velvet Blue/Tooth & Nail]

This Friday, March 29, 2024
ALBUMS
Grungepunks The Fall Blues EP [Charon Collective]
Meadows Familiar with Pain [Facedown]

SINGLES
Joe L. Barnes Altar - Single [RCAI]
iNTELLECT It Ain’t My Fault - Single [Polished Arrow]
Spoken Worth Holy Week - Double Single (independent)
Gileah Taylor Summer Jubilee - Single [Velvet Blue]

VINYL
Battlecross Pursuit of Honor (Blood Moon Vinyl) [Back Breaker]
Battlecross Rise To Power (Silver Bullet Power Vinyl) [Back Breaker]
Battlecross War of Will (Amber Wave Vinyl) [Back Breaker]

Next Friday, April 5, 2024
ALBUMS
EmanuelDaProphet Fab5 [Capitol CMG]
Me'Kayla Prelude - EP [Motown Gospel/Capitol CMG]
We Are Messengers Where the Joy is [Curb]


For all release dates, click here!
 



Listen to the new album from Trey Tate!




Listen to the new Album From Tim Juillet!

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images