Dryvetyme Onlyne

Chris Rice
What A Heart Is Beating For
Eb+Flow/INO Records; 2007
Rating 6.2

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) has had a problem for a long time. Whether we’re considering long-term, established stars like Amy Grant or Michael W. Smith or newer artists like Nichole Nordeman, everyone praises the material when it meets the appropriate Jesus-Per-Minute (JPM) quotient, but shows concern for the singer’s eternal soul when their lyrics begin to lean too heavily upon the metaphorical and figurative side of the songwriting spectrum. Oh, the artist will be lauded for the ability to turn a phrase and to write challenging lyrics, but their level of radio play and sales will typically suffer. My 6 years in Christian retail bears out the fact that if the average Christian radio listener doesn’t “get” the lyrics, then that album will be collecting dust on the shelves for awhile.

Thus, even though his first break-through hit was the children’s church favorite “Cartoon Song,” Chris Rice has stood up as an exception to that rule for the past decade. From his early days of penning songs for other CCM artists to being the first artist signed to Rocketown Records through his involvement with Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, Rice remains well-loved for his alternately kid- & adult-accessible acoustic pop sound. With a lyrics clearly possessing a pronounced story-telling bent, Rice has always been able to craft a song that people can sing along to, even if they might not catch all of his poetic twists and turns. It seems that Rice has carved out a solid niche for himself – for every though-provoking “Smell the Color 9” Rice has written, he turns around to pen contemporary hymns such as “Untitled Hymn (Come To Jesus).”

And with the release of his new record, What A Heart Is Beating For, Rice finds himself starting in familiar territory, yet willing to explore what lies beyond the limits of his 6-string acoustic guitar. The album is filled with the type of catchy, upbeat pop songs that have come to define his style, with tracks like “So Much For My Sad Song” and current chart-climber “Lemonade” serving as solid examples of such. But not everything is always so light in Rice’s world; representing his contemplative side are the title track and “Punch Lines and Ironies,” a song thick with the realization that we’re not quite in control of this life as we think we are. However, the places where Rice stretches himself can be best found on “You Don’t Have To Yell,” as he pokes fun at reality television and political talk shows by linking them up due to their mutual penchant for high volume “discourse,” and “Here Come Those Eyes,” a breezy love song that could easily be deemed as racy in Christian circles as V.O.L’s “Love Cocoon” was over a decade ago.

Produced by long-time friend and collaborator Monroe Jones, What A Heart Is Beating For captures Chris Rice firmly within his element yet looking outward to the wide world around him. In many respects, while this album doesn’t break any new stylistic ground, you can sense that Rice looking to do some creative exploring, whether by mining a bit deeper into what’s inside of him or by pushing out the fences around his sound. One can only hope that with his future work, Rice might be willing to open the gate to his artistic fence and do a bit of wandering to see what else is out there. So, even though I find What A Heart Is Beating For to be a fairly solid record, I can’t help but wonder what else Rice might be able to do with his craft. If he can find time to meander about with his words, certainly he can do so with his sound.