Shawn McDonald

Shawn McDonald is one of many new and upcoming Christian musicians who are making waves in the alternative acoustic/folk world. His new album Roots is an attempt to hold to that genre, yet add some originality and uniqueness to the sound. His efforts meet with some excellence and some mediocrity, but the overall result is definitely worth checking out. If you like the sounds of artists like Mat Kearney, Ben Harper, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, or Bebo Norman you will definitely enjoy this album.

Witnessing a live performance of Mr. McDonald with just him and his guitar makes it obvious that this guy has talent. And though that talent is represented well here it seems to suffer to some degree from a common fate of many recordings of Christian artists in this same genre, a need to appeal to Christian radio. Yet in spite of that fact there are still some gems here, as well as some great moments of production genius.

Perhaps what gives this album some of its uniqueness is the string arrangements. Not too syrupy nor too avant-garde, they add a great deal of color and flavor. The track “Shadowlands” is a prime example of this. A catchy, highly rhythmic tune where the syncopation is tastefully highlighted by both guitar and string riffs. Other songs in this same vain are “Clarity,” “Captivated,” “Greed,” and “Time.” With this approach McDonald is at his best, and the creative and thoughtful production of producer Chris Stevens keeps up with his performance. Unfortunately the album seems to lose direction and passion the more the pace “slows down.”

Ballads like “Slow Down,” “Waltz in 3,” and “Winter” suffer from the age-old curse of too much repetition and predictability. “Hallelujah” may be the lone exception as it’s a truly beautiful praise filled song that builds to a nice crescendo. Yet it’s evident that McDonald really comes through when he keeps the tempo up and the energy level high. Clearly he is attempting to deepen and expand his musical expression, and the subject matter he is covering does demand a more thoughtful tempo. One can applaud the effort, but in the end the song writing simply falls short of the goal. Unfortunately the lack of inspirational song writing also carries over into the production. It’s possible that some of these songs could have been improved with more time in the studio.

On the other hand some of the more moderately paced songs work well such as “Light,” and “Roots.” “Roots” is especially good with a nice bluesy feel, with some great original arrangement ideas. Subtle horns and some unusual, unidentifiable instrumentation make for an interesting listening experience. With this track the songwriter shows his potential for creating works of greater lyrical and musical depth. “Wash Me Clean” is also a tune worth mentioning. With more of a straightforward approach there is little doubt the writing and production of this track is blatantly aimed at CCM radio, and hopefully it will find some airtime. It certainly stands out as being of higher quality than much of the common fair that gets played on many stations.

In all Roots is a noteworthy offering and Shawn McDonald is an artist that anyone who enjoys his style of music will want to keep a close eye on.

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