Hailing from British Columbia, Dan Bremnes and his family recently moved to Nashville, taking a leap of faith in pursuit of his music career. The Canada native follows in the footsteps of his contemporaries on Where The Light Is, unfortunately not offering anything new or all that noteworthy.

The first verse of the "Where The Light Is" does a nice job setting up a personal story about Bremnes' faith, but when the chorus rolls around, we are presented with vague descriptions and overused metaphors, "I've been living in the dark, looking for daylight / You're my daylight." Written in reflection of crying out to God when he lost his mom in a car accident, the emotion behind this heartbreaking story is not effectively communicated through the song. On the bright side, Bremenes took this tragedy and turned it into something positive--an ambition to pursue a musical career. Another drawback is how there are several instances where the songwriting seems stitched together from popular CCM titles such as "remind me who I am" (Jason Gray) and "I'm after your heart" (Phil Wickham).

Musically, Bremnes sticks to a standard worship-pop formula with simple arrangements and calculated crescendos. It's a pleasant sound that works okay for the upbeat tunes like "Beautiful" and "Heart on Fire," but when the cheerfulness is stripped away on the mid-tempo numbers "He Knows" and "Where The Light Is," the music is unmemorable. The slower "Even If" assumes a folksy vibe, but it's too safely executed to stand out. One song that works well musically is "Born Again," which is driven by a bright acoustic guitar, a Hammond organ, and a boot-stomping beat.

The recycled lyrics combined with the predictable nature of the music equate to an instantly recognizable album with low replay value. Where The Light Is--which is meant to whet listeners' appetites for Bremnes' first national full-length release this June--may serve as decent as background music, but anyone looking for an engaging or artistic album won't find it here.

- Review date: 4/6/15, written by Christopher Smith of Jesusfreakhideout.com