I've been a fan of Out of the Grey for nearly 10 years now. Man, that seems like a long time. It was in 1994 that my interest in popular genres of music took a leap from almost nothing to near-obsession, as I discovered the wide and wonderful (or at least seemingly so) world of Contemporary Christian Music. In addition to several rock groups and inspirational pop singers, one noteworthy act in particular that I discovered in that early era (this was before Jars of Clay, folks) was Out of the Grey. A creative collaboration between the heavenly voice of Christine Denté, the animated and sometimes funky guitar playing of her husband Scott Denté, and a bevy of thoughtful lyrics from both, Out of the Grey has proved to age quite well, with their first album in particular maintaining an honored position in my massive CD collection. It just never goes out of style, and I'm surprised that a more "mature" form of Christian pop music even appealed to me at age 16.
The years haven't been so kind to Out of the Grey. I'm not sure when it was that the CCM industry started to lose interest in the duo - perhaps it was around the time they tried to shake themselves out of the brief rut of more predictable pop that they found themselves in midway through the 90's. They weren't too convincing as a rock act during the (see inside) era, but then, everyone was trying to sound more "alternative" in the late 90's. After being dropped from their record label, they weren't heard of for a while until Rocketown Records (one of the few CCM labels that I actually have a reasonable amount of respect for these days) picked them up in 2001. They made an admirable turn with the subtle but smartly crafted 6.1, which went largely unnoticed. I don't whether Christian music had been overrun with so many pretty female voices at that point that Christine's didn't make as much impact on radio (it's more fun to pine over singers who are younger and unmarried, after all), or whether their style was just out of synch with current trends, but for whatever reason, I started to wonder if we would ever hear from Out of the Grey again after that point. After all, it's easy to continue on as under appreciated musicians when it's just the two of you and all the time in the world. Reality sets in once you have three kids to feed.
I feared the worst when I heard in mid-2003 that Christine Denté would be releasing a solo album. Sheesh, I thought, nobody appreciates Scott. I figured that Out of the Grey was old news, and Christine was now going to be marketed as a chirpy inspirational singer. Needless to say, I was relieved when I found out that her album, entitled Becoming, would be more of a side project, allowing Christine to get some of her more personal songs out of her system. It would be a similar thing to Phil Joel releasing albums apart from the Newsboys, or all three of dc Talk's members focusing their efforts on solo work (though that particular split strikes me as more and more permanent with each passing day). And hey, it's kind of fun to hear a more personal spin on a CCM icon that we've known and loved for years, isn't it? If anything, Christian pop music can always benefit from songwriters being more transparent, more individual, instead of churning out the same faceless output year after year.
The funny thing is, Becoming doesn't sound that far removed from the Out of the Grey that fans were previously acquainted with. Take the basic OOTG recipe, push Scott's guitar into the background and remove his backing vocals (he gets his two cents in by producing instead), and shine the spotlight a little more on Christine's voice and piano-based song composition, and you've got a reasonable idea of how this sounds. The record might be a tad ballad-heavy, never accelerating to the full gallop of early hits like "Wishes" or "Steady Me", but the songs are just as affecting, and those breathy vocals and subtle turns of phrase are bound to inspire a trip down memory lane for long-time fans. Christine is just one of those unmistakable artists whom you'll never confuse with someone else. Heck, they even brought their old buddy Charlie Peacock back for a little creative input. It all adds up to a lovely record that examines the thoughts and observations of being a wife and mother in the greater lens of what it means to be a Christian, and only occasionally does the record fall prey to a mediocre moment that sounds like a re-heated Out of the Grey leftover. It's good stuff, and contrary to what some have said about the album, I don't think you have to be a woman to enjoy and fall in love with this album.
Becoming
I tried the whimsical, gauzy pink dresses
That spin in the wind when you twirl
But somehow the princess gown
Never did fit this girl...
The way that this record begins is definitely a good way to set Christine's solo work apart from Out of the Grey. It's a lush, nostalgic ballad, almost soundtrack-like in the way that its melodramatic string intro gives way to a quiet piano and Christine's musings about being a little girl and not quite fitting in with all of the other, prettier girls. One gets the sense of turning the pages of a scrapbook as the lyrics describe her maturing process, using clever word pictures, homonyms, thoughtful rhymes - the usual subtle wordplay that suits her wistful voice so well. The very title of the album, Becoming, turns out to have one of those double meanings as the song its left hanging at the end - "I am becoming/Your love becomes me."
Bigger Story
So I listen in and I hear the song
From another country and I sing along...
The pop factor begins to take over on the second track, though it's not overbearing - the driving forces here are warm keyboard tones and a gentle mid-tempo beat. This is a more general song about taking the personal and making it universal, surrendering one's life to be a part of the "bigger story" that God is writing. It's a little more straightforward and radio-friendly, but that's not a bad thing, since Christine side-steps the typical Christianese and uses very common language, describing an ongoing "conversation" with God that she gets to take a part in. This is one of the tracks that Scott and Charlie contributed to - their influence is subtle but detectable if you're familiar with their previous instrumental work and production values.
Gotta Go Through
This unfamiliar terrain, no umbrella for the rain,
And we're reaching for each other again...
This song manages to take an upbeat and breezy tune and marry it to a very personal and convicting lyric that might normally have been reserved for a ballad. The piano sounds a bit cautious as it picks out the main theme of the song, and Christine's tone is very confessional, asking "Why'd I have to go through this? Wouldn't it be easier to just turn and run?" What's got her all frazzled isn't clear at first, but as the song unfolds and she makes a reference to an old Out of the Grey song when she mentions "learn[ing] a new step in the dance", it becomes clear that the song is about a troubled marriage. Apparently the song was written about some friends of theirs who had hit a rough spot in their relationship, because it taught Christine that "tripping together is better than falling apart". (Love those double meanings!) It's a vulnerable song that makes you wonder why Christine wasn't writing lyrics like this all along.
Take It From Here
No more trying to water seeds You haven't sown
No more trying to buy the time we could never own...
This song is another collaboration with Scott, and once again his influence is easily detected in the lilting acoustic guitar that weaves throughout the song. It's the first point where the tempo of a song increases to the point of a gallop, though the percussion stays pretty light, so it still ends up being a very delicate song. Thematically speaking, this one isn't too far from the norm for Out of the Grey - it's a song about getting nowhere on your own, and giving up and letting God take the proverbial steering wheel. Once again, Christine's subtle metaphors save it from being your typical "Christianese" song, so it's worth a listen even if it doesn't stand out immediately amidst the surrounding tracks.
Summer
Making funny mirror faces
I caught you looking at me looking at your hair
But you don't care
It's only there for me to measure...
One of the most personal tracks on the record makes use of a similar formula to the title track - it's another sentimental, piano-laced ballad. And dang, it's a good one. I'm not a parent and I don't automatically go ga-ga at the sight of small children, but there's something about Christine's first-person recollection of a special day spent playing with with her kids that just melts me. Again, there's that vague feeling that time is passing underneath the song and you'd better grab on to as much of it as you can. "How short the days are long, how fast the days of slow go away", is how she explains it. She resists scolding one of her kids for only eating half of her lunch due to an excited rush to go out and play, because she doesn't want to fight trivial battles when she could just be enjoying immersing herself in her daughter's world. Christine's vocals are in top form here - she's written one of those melodies that positively shimmers with joy, and yet it's not perky or chirpy or annoying. I wish I knew how she did that!
The Only Thing That Counts
And love covers over a multitude of sins
And love makes up for oh so many things...
The second half of the record is where I think Christine starts to show a few signs of creative weakness. While this track is a great showcase for her voice, Scott's guitar playing, and a rich production style that allows Christine to sing in a round with herself, it's unfortunate that the lyric she's written here is more repetitive and trite than the vast majority of Out of the Grey's work. Even at the peak of their typical pop phase (somewhere around Diamond Days and Gravity), I always felt that Christine had enough quotable phrases in her songs to hold the listener's interest. Here it's little other than a paraphrase of a Bible verse and the repeated motto "The only thing that counts is faith living it out in love." It's like one of those memory-verse things you'd use with kids, except the music is a litle more savvy. I can admire the attempt, but it has the faint sense of trying to be deep by being simple, and in this case it doesn't really work.
Sure of All I Hope For
So many souls have gone before me
Their lives have told a faithful story
Their hearts were set upon a better place
I'll meet them there someday...
The next song suffers from a similar problem, unfortunately - too simplistic of a lyric coupled with a tune that just isn't as interesting as some of her others. This song is another simple paraphrase, explaining that faith is the evidence of things unseen, which is a great concept to explore in a song, but I'm not seeing much in terms of unique language here. I guess it's frustrating to hear a line like "I heard the news and I believed/Because You proved Your love for me" when I feel like any CCM singer could have written that. The song doesn't scratch very far below the surface, and because of that it ends up feeling like one mid-tempo song too many on an album that can't afford to have any filler, given that it only has 10 songs to begin with.
How Far, How Much
How far did I travel 'til You let my life unravel back home to You
How much did You give until I finally got a glimpse of what love can do...
The moodier piano that repeats throughout this song is a welcome change - it signals a more intricate melody and ultimately a better song than the last two. Christine's tone is appropriately pensive here, with the notes she hangs on during the verses offering just the right amount of tension as she ponders the sacrifice Christ made for her and asks herself exactly what she's willing to give all of her life back in return. Still a simple concept, but the "rainy day" atmosphere that she paints with the music helps it to stand out a little more.
Echoes of Heaven
City lights, journey of our lives
Paris after dark
Lovers dream, captured in this scene
A part of who we are...
Thankfully, Christine decided to close her album with two of its richest musical pieces. This song is intricately composed, with quick percussion, sharp acoustic and electric guitars that glisten like stars in the night sky, and another lyric of fond remembrance in which Christine recounts the special moments in her life as glimpses of Heaven, such as a walk through the woods with one of her kids, or a special night in Paris with her lover. (So they did get to Paris after all!) It's a beautifully written song with just the right amount of attention to detail in terms of the background music - it's never overbearing, but there are a lot of layers adding to the intricacy of the song. In that sense, it hearkens back to songs like "Perfect Circle" and "Write My Life" from Out of the Grey's debut.
Good-bye
See, we're the ones who wonder, we the ones who live
To read and write and ponder 'til our eyes begin to dim
How glorious the joy of those who go, they already know ...
Christine has definitely saved the best of her songs for last. A magical piano cadence gives the illusion of snow falling around the listener, propelling the song forward yet preserving its delicate nature. (The entire album has a very delicate touch to it that works well to set Christine apart from typical CCM pop.) The song actually deals with death, specifically the sudden loss of someone close to Christine. The way she handles it seems to be a tricky balance of mourning and joy - and it's the joy that really comes through in the song, taking the listener on a flight of fancy and reminding us that death is a natural and even welcome part of our journey. "We need not stay longer than the number of our days", she reminds us with a sense of peace in her voice. She even does a cute little duet with herself during the bridge, when she describes the human soul as "a butterfly emerging, struggling to be free". This is the culmination of the process of "becoming" that she has given us a window into with this album - she's taken us from birth to death and stopped off at a few points in between that have been meaningful to her. It's a beautiful moment and it caps off what is ultimately a beautiful album. I might even go so far as to say that it takes MercyMe's massive hit "I Can Only Imagine" and does it one better.
I don't know if Christine plans to fly solo for any future albums, but now that I've had some time to let Becoming sink in, I have to say that this one was way overdue. It's not that we ever disliked Scott, but I think a lot of OOTG fans have been wondering for a while how Christine would sound on her own. Now we know, and I think she's given us a worthy addition to the Out of the Grey canon. Whether the two plan to continue recording as a duo or whether this marks a shift in focus for the couple probably doesn't matter too much, since Scott is as talented in the producer's chair as he is singing and writing and playing guitar. It'll probably depend on how well Becoming sells when measured against 6.1. Personally, I'd rather see Out of the Grey continue, but either way, I'm certain that the Dentés have a lot of great pop music in them that the world has yet to hear.
ALBUM WORTH:
Becoming $2
Bigger Story $1
Gotta Go Through $2
Take It from Here $1
Summer $2
The Only Thing That Counts $.50
Sure of All I Hope for $0
How Far, How Much $.50
Echoes of Heaven $1.50
Good-bye $2
TOTAL: $12.50
CONCLUSION: A worthwhile buy, especially for the first half, but try to avoid paying full price if you can help it.
Website: http://www.christinedente.com
Great Music to Play While: Dreaming about the people you'll see again on the other side of Heaven's door.
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