Joey Witham

Joey Witham, a worship leader from the Dallas area, has released his third album featuring eight original songs. Though his worship leading roots are evident throughout, as in the case of many such new artists from this genre, it can not be defined so strictly in traditional terms. Witham’s style for
The Great Homesickness is to rely heavily on the electric guitar, thus creating a bit more of an edge than a lot of other worship albums. It’s not a rock album, but it does project an energetic, youthful feel with an abundance of electric guitar and bass riffs, which, not withstanding, are perhaps the highlight of this project.

Here is a writer who doesn’t seem to worry much about approaching things a little differently when it comes to melody lines. For better or worse he throws in some, shall we say, “interesting” note combinations. Sometimes they seem to work okay, other times they don’t, but at least this artist is brave enough to give them a try. For what it’s worth, one can’t accuse him of sticking to the tried and true. Yet, in spite of the occasional poorly constructed melody line, he does come up with a few that stick with the listener, and one may find himself or herself humming a few bars during the course of the day.

Overall, this album doesn’t fly all that high, despite the tasteful guitar and bass work mentioned earlier. Frankly, the vocals go a long way in holding these songs to the ground. On some cuts the singer’s style seems to fit well, on others it just doesn’t have the power, texture, or maturity to pull it off. Witham seems capable enough, but perhaps it’s a matter of focusing on the right niche that brings out that talent more readily. Many of the songs seem to be a poor fit for what his pipes have to offer.

The first two tracks, “Call Out,” and “Spirit Bound,” are perhaps the best example of this. The overall song structure of both songs are not bad, but Witham’s vocals and choice of melodies are poor at times. The title track isn’t much better; though this song is a good one to name the album after, there are a lot of areas that should have been given more time for development. And that perhaps is the biggest problem with this album. It could potentially have been a top notch recording project. Indeed, there are a number of strong points, but scattered throughout is a number of counteractive weak points that hold it back. Likely, this is mostly a result of a lack of time and attention paid to the writing and arranging of the songs.

Another prime example is the forth track, “Lose Control,” which has a fairly strong chorus, but a notable weak verse. Perhaps the best tune on the album is track five, “Send Your Glory.” Here this artist seems to come close to the niche mentioned earlier. With a few adjustments in arrangement, especially at the beginning of the song, this could be an excellent praise and worship offering.

“Coldplay and Stars” is another plus for this project. A thoughtful love song to the writer’s wife, it may be his best work, as far as consistency throughout, both musically and lyrically. His jump to a falsetto here is actually quite pleasant to the ears.

Perhaps the word “inconsistent” is a good way to sum up The Great Homesickness. There is a lot of good music here, but the many loud splashes of mediocrity are a serious distraction.

Tagged as: Joey Witham, The Great Homesickness

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