Ginny Ownes "Something More"

Title: Something More
Category: Contempory/Pop
Artist/Group: Ginny Owens
Rating: 4 / 5

Prelude With Me Run to You I Am Something More This Road I Know Someone Simply Love You The Hand True Story All I Want to Do Be Still, My Soul

Her voice lilts and twirls delicately over soft melodies. But intertwined with the seeming frailty of the vocals is a message of strength and conviction. In Something More, Ginny Owens explores our common struggle to trust in and commune with God in the midst of a chaotic world. So often we try on our own to extract fulfillment from our hectic routines; we search in vain for a sense of purpose and control. Owens gently reminds us that true strength comes from reliance on God, not ourselves.

Here are some of the songs that stood out to me:

Run to You deals with a world that grows ever more complex, "I used to see the world in black and white / Now I find myself lost in a fog of grey." Owens response to this confusion is simply to run to God: "I thought that inner peace would come from trusting who I am / But its really about trusting who I know." I love nifty little lines like this. Anyway, Owens shows that the only answer to a fickle and uncaring world is Gods constancy and sufficiency.

Something More, the title track, is an upbeat offering that resembles an Out of Eden song. This song hits the heart of our struggle to maintain who we really are in the face of the tediousness and mindless business of our lives: "There's gotta be something more than running circles for a living / Gotta be something more to life." Yeah, its not earthshattering, and youve heard the words before, but still, its a nice pop tune with some good things to say.

I found myself relating most to Simply Love You, which again addresses the theme of seeking solace and peace in our complicated world. We tend to lose ourselves in the world, and its easy to feel like were in it alone. But sometimes, by grace, we realize that Gods been with us all along, and like Homer we say, Doh! because of all the needless anxiety and pain we subjected ourselves to. Thats the sense I got from this song: "How did I get so distracted / Caught up in the chaos of each day / When did I stop asking for Your wisdom / As if your words were meant for someone else." I think what Owens is saying is that we need to return to a childlike fresh disbelief and let go of our own world-weariness and knowledge.

Would I buy this CD? Presupposing a world with no CD burners or other such technologies, the answer is: probably. Its refreshing to hear a singer who can really sing, and Ginny Owens has been blessed with a special voice. (Do keep in mind that I dont know too much about music.) Shes vulnerable, yet strong and genuine. And its also refreshing to hear songs that arent so formulaic and neatly packaged, a la the work produced by those ubiquitous boy bands and their equally irritating Christian incarnations. The final verdict: I didnt really LOVE any of the songs, but this is a solid album.

Ginny Owens homepage: http://www.ginnyowens.com

Discography