Limited Edition EP - Vicky Beeching

Warning: I did a review of this album not because I wanted to, but because I couldn't find a way to listen to anything better. I hope, if you were considering this EP, that it will be helpful. If you were not, skip to the final star rating.

Vicky Beeching has a lot of talent and experience. The 30 year old has been writing songs since age 11, leading worship since her teen,s and has trained under praise and worship standards like Brian Doerkson and Benton Brown. A United Kingdom native, Vicky has the makings to be another Mat Redman or Delirious?, but does she have it in her to push the limits as far as they did, or capture the same amount of emotion and origniality? These questions will (hopefully!) be answered in the next few paragraphs.

First of all, this is an EP, which puts me in an automatic awkward position for reviewing. Especially a 3-song effort, that just doesn't contain enough music. But I will do my best to review the songs, not the album. Things begin on a rather mid-tempo note, with the worshipful "Deliver" cranking out a predictable, but mature tune that many fans will enjoy and except at home or on the radio. And although the lyrics come up altogether pretty shallow, it flows with the melody and won't be a problem to most listeners. "Salvation Day" comes next, and features a nice acoustic guitar riff and an anthem-like chorus, and is better than the first by a fair amount. Again, not the best it could have been, but also not that bad.

The lead single "Blessing and Honor" is probably the best here. Though her vocals are especially unique on this one, (to give an idea, look into Lanae Hale) I'd give it an A for not doing anything wrong. She creates another worthy track that fills out the CD and puts it over the ten minute mark, though it still feels like less. But overall, the 4-and-a-half minute hand raiser brings out her best, and it keeps me on the look out for her full-length major label debut in April.

So I see why Integrity Music threw this out there, give the public an ear and the Christian music sites something to talk about, at least as far as new artists go. But overall I'd say that people will have the likelihood to hear this, forget, and when April rolls around won't even give the new music a chance. Just a guess, but I think it could happen. And though it deserves more attention that it will get, I'll bet Vicky won't make it much farther this year, unless something miraculous happens. So while she is still really just beginning, I'd give her a shot, and if she isn't you're style, just skip her future record(s). And if she is, it'll give you a date to look forward to, and a good praise lift for those days when you need something new to listen to. ~ Christian Lingner

31/2 of 5 stars