Stephanie Newton

If you are a woman older than 30 and live in the suburbs with kids in tow, then you’ll most likely like Stephanie Newton’s debut album Fairytale Life. If you don’t fall into that demographic, you most likely won’t identify with Newton’s lyrics, which are the strongest aspect of her music.

Fairytale Life almost heralds in a new genre of music; just as there is now a “mom-lit” genre of books, Fairytale Life could easily fall into a “mom-pop” genre of music. Newton’s lyrics focus on the various aspects of raising children and while not losing your emotional and spiritual stability. She couples her lyrics with mostly upbeat tempos, but breaks into slower, meditative melodies for some. Much like “mom-lit” often has a comical overtone while being pointedly true to real-life, Newton’s lyrics play on the fringe of fun and lightheartedness while touching the heart of what it means to be a mom. This is especially heard in her title song, “Fairytale Life.” In the song she plays on the image of being that “perfect” house wife but also asks what it means to throw God into that image:

“I’ve got Prince Charming / Got my castle / Got my Chariot SUV / In this fairytale life, what’s Your purpose for me? / Now, I’m not quite a damsel in distress / But in this fairytale life, can I be who You made me to be?”

While Newton’s lyrics are her strong point, they are also one of the limiting factors of her music. As mentioned before, her lyrics will, perhaps, only truly resonate with a specific audience. This is not necessarily a detrimental thing; the last time I checked, the population of mothers in the world is pretty significantly large. Newton is writing about a specific topic, to which a specific audience will respond.

While Newton’s lyrics are unique when speaking on the topic of motherhood, when she attempts to deviate from the topic of motherhood to original worship songs, she falls into the trap that many Christian artists fall into. That trap is where “original” becomes only a regurgitation of what others have done.

I would be doing this review a disservice if I did not point out the exception to my previous point. Newton’s song, “Worship You Again,” is a soul-searching meditation that is beautifully arranged and sung. While her lyrics do depend on pretty normal Christian imagery (entering God’s courts, God as a King and we as paupers, and Christians being welcomed back into God’s arms) the melody creates a unique sincerity behind common lyrics.

Newton’s music sounds nostalgic in that it calls to mind Twila Paris, Point of Grace, Amy Grant, among other Christian women singers from the 90s. If I did not know that the album was just recently released, I would have sworn it had been created in the same decade as those previously mentioned. This works against Newton in reaching an audience under 30. Other songs about parenthood have been popular on airwaves in recent years (the country song “Being Mr. Mom” and Steven Curtis Chapman’s moving “Cinderella”) due to their “modern” sound. These songs utilize the current popular and cutting edge sounds and, therefore, are able to transcend those age-dividing lines.

“Worship You Again” has the ability to do just that. With the way the arrangement on the guitar plays out and the beautiful, natural quality of Newton’s voice as she sing the song, it would not be all that surprising if “Worship You Again” infiltrated Sunday morning worship.

For the rest of Fairytale Life, though, Newton has the ear of a specific part of the mother population, but she will not gain the new generation of mothers if her music does not move into the twenty-first century.

Tagged as: Fairytale Life, Stephanie Newton

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