from: cmcentral.com
author: Robin Parrish
website: http://www.cmcentral.com

»» Paul Colman Trio
One

New Artist of the Year winner Paul Colman Trio returns with big ideas and scaled-back sounds on the group's sophomore album, One.

Unlike the over-produced New Map of the World, which never quite captured PC3's enjoyable live sound effectively, One goes for a less-is-more approach, and does a better job of representing who this group is, artistically. Producer Brent Milligan's understated approach sounds very much as if the group recorded most of the instruments live, with some mild programming and other subtle effects worked in for good measure.

One of Colman's strengths is his ability to take a highbrow theological concept and put it into a simple, three-minute nugget of truth devoid of heady terminology. He takes that gift and runs with it on One, which is dedicated to promoting unity and reconciliation between Christians and the church in general. That theme weaves its way throughout the album, most notably on "Solution," "One Generation," and the title track, "One."

One starts out pretty mellow, but Colman gets his acoustic funk on starting with "Solution" and following with the clever "Birthday Song," the spaced-out "Who Do You Say," and others. The fun, rollicking "Live It!" is a definite standout, and "Save My Soul" is the one you'll be hearing in your head for days, with its pop anthem chorus. A few ballads round things out.

One is a solid step forward for Paul Colman Trio, that takes everything that worked about the group before, makes it better, and throws out the rest. The time and thought that Colman puts into his lyrics, from concept to completion, is uncommonly thorough.

Robin's rating: 85 %

--Robin Parrish ««