Review
Title: In Jesus We Are One
Artist: Adassa
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Records
Genre: CCM (Christian Contemporary Music)
Year Published: 2023
Number of Tracks: 7
Binding: Digipak
ISBN: N/A
Price: 7.99
Reviewed by Ivan Wolfe for the Association of Mormon Letters
The songs on In Jesus We Are One by Adassa would easily and comfortably fit in on Christian radio, and I mean that as a serious compliment.
It’s rather trendy to disparage CCM (Christian Contemporary Music), and in the past much of that mockery was, to various extents, deserved, with cheesy arrangements, subpar musicianship, syrupy delivery, and lyrics that sounded more like “Jesus is the best boyfriend ever” (even when sung by a man). While some of those problems still persist (every genre has its worst performers), overall, CCM has had a massive increase in quality over the past two decades, with groups like For King and Country or Casting Crowns that have high-quality arrangements, serious musicianship, and lyrics that deal more with trusting God in a fallen and chaotic world (rather than the kind of songs where, as The Simpsons put it, all you have to do is change “Jesus” to “Baby” to move into the pop arena).
Adassa’s songs on this album are clearly contemporary CCM (yes, that’s a bit of redundancy), though with a very, very heavy Gospel influence (think of crossing Gladys Knight’s Saints Unified Choir with For King and Country, and you might get the idea – and if you don’t know what either one of those sound like, go educate yourself, please. You will thank me) and hints of country (in fact, if I had only heard the songs and did not have the physical CD, I would have assumed Adassa was a Country artist making a crossover into more rock and gospel-oriented CCM).
Adassa’s voice is unique, full and conveys emotion quite well. It sits somewhere on the borders of raspy, smoky, husky, and warm while still able to go into full-tilt Gospel mode. As Deseret Book has released this album on its Shadow Mountain label, it’s clear they hope this to serve as a way into the CCM market. There’s no real LDS content, though the call for ecumenical dialogue and cooperation in the title song hints at something like that, asking the listener to look past their prejudices towards other denominations.
In the liner notes, it states the album was recorded in Nashville (no surprise there, Nashville serves as the capital for CCM as well as Country), London, and Nigeria, which indicates an interesting tale could be told about making the album as well.
The final track on the album is a Spanish-language version of the best track, “On a Mission.” The Spanish version is “Él Me Llamó” (“He called me,” according to my professional translator brother), which indicates it’s not a literal translation, though the English “Singing Hallelujah” is “Cantamos Hallelujah” in the Spanish version).
In Jesus We Are One does not break any new ground, musically or lyrically, in the CCM market (though for the LDS market, it seems to be pushing some boundaries), but it is a solid, well-done, and movingly performed set of songs. While I don’t know if it will break into the CCM market (any LDS artist is going to face innumerable barriers that have nothing to do with music or lyrics), I hope it will be successful enough for more music from Adassa.