Jason Gray All the Lovely Losers Centricity Records Adult Contemporary 03-06-2007

SCORE 89%

Jason Gray's All the Lovely Losers was the perfect antidote to our winter blahs. It’s pop at its best all the way through the album, beautifully bearing his nimble lyrics of vulnerability and brokenness. Gray is all about ministering through revelation; he cheerfully lays out his most personal weaknesses in order to let Christ shine more brightly, sharing even stories of an abusive past to further glorify God. It’s not difficult to understand why his album is so uplifting and encouraging.

The melodic beatitude “Blessed Be” opens, featuring guest artist Joel Hanson, of PFR fame, but it is Gray’s vocals that stick out first on the upbeat Brit-rocker, for his wide range and remarkable powers of expression. He sounds quite a bit like Downhere’s Marc Martel actually, his voice soaring over the string-rich arrangements.

But it’s the song’s encouraging message that really snags your attention. It’s written to those who “never thought you’d hear your name…. the ones who know that they are weak/ they shall see the Kingdom come to the broken ones.” We’re the ones who KNOW we need it, badly, and Gray is one of us. It’s the central theme running throughout the project: brokenness. Gray knows a lot about brokenness, as his parents divorced when he was young. Growing up with an abusive stepfather, he developed a stutter that he still has to this day. Gray’s well-delivered message is that brokenness becomes strength when we turn it over to God. Good, good stuff.

The shimmering guitars and airborne vocals permeate the next track, “Sing Through Me,” pleading for Presence and Power through the weariness of the daily battle. “Stir the tigers in my blood/ fan a flame inside me”; a potent image, as powerfully evocative as the pumping rhythms that contain it.

Another album strength is its roster of impressive guest artists, including Andrew Peterson, Lori Chaffer, and Sara Groves. Standout tracks include the piano-driven “Weak,” Gray’s soft vocals offering support to his fellow wounded (“My deepest point of need is the better part of me”), the electric pop-rocker “I’m Not Going Down,” a song of declaration announcing his dependence upon God’s Spirit, the lustrous, airy “Someday,” and the quiet piano closer, “Everything I Own,” laying down the lusts of his heart in pursuit of a pure heart.

But it is “The Cut,” a warm ballad featuring Sara Groves that grabs you by the throat with its outstanding lyrics, heart-rending vocals, and precise instrumentation. The scorching mid-track electric guitar solo comes on like a surgical saw, powerfully underlining its fervent description of God’s cutting work on our hearts. This amazing track is one of the best I’ve heard this year, not surprisingly found on an album of exceptionally high caliber. Both spiritually and musically vital, Gray’s songs have the potential to make a significant impact in the lives of those who are really listening. A lot to expect of an album? I don’t think so; not from an artist as grounded as Gray seems to be.