Here we have the first album from this artist, a ‘pop rock contemporary worship’ independent release. Originally from 2022 and with the past two years resulting in four singles and another full length on the way, it has nevertheless just recently been presented to NFN for review. Born in Colombo Sri Lanka but having been “raised primarily in Jeddah due to her father’s professional commitments”, Gresha’s background is somewhat unusual – the publicity material acknowledging the influence of her multicultural upbringing. The album features (and shares its cover picture with) Pio Anandappa and Shimron Fernando and is described as “worship based on biblical teachings”. No argument with that approach of course, except that Gresha’s lyrics here tend towards a preponderance of well-worn biblical phrases – “I lift up your name in all the earth” is one of several in the otherwise strong opener ‘I bring You a sound of worship’, and subsequent tracks continue in similar vein. The melodies are simple and enjoyable, although some tend to be musically generic to the point where on first listen I knew where a tune was going before it got there! Undoubtedly Gresha’s biggest plus is her powerful and deep contralto voice, bringing a uniqueness to this release that it perhaps otherwise lacks. It is disappointing therefore that the often distorted sound doesn’t do her delivery full justice. Sometimes it even masks her lyrics – ‘Weight of the cross’ is an example, where I try unsuccessfully to decipher a phrase at the beginning of the repeating chorus of this attractive medium-paced song. The title track closes the album and begins with Gresha’s spoken personal story, contrasting with the rest of the release in featuring a simple keyboard-led accompaniment. The strongest tracks for me are the already mentioned opener and the upbeat ‘Trust’, although the latter ends rather suddenly. If Gresha can bring more originality to her songwriting she could be one to watch in future. Perhaps the new album raises the bar in this respect, and I’d like to think it might also be mastered with better sound quality. This one though? 6/10. Dave Deeks.
Never for Nothing 