Red Roots “Triplicity” Album Review

With ABC primetime country music soap opera "Nashville" lodging in the top slots as far as ratings go and with Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert blurring the lines between country and what's popular, it's time for Christian-based country music to charge out on high gear.  Thank God for Red Roots. Instead of being stymied in the mire of tradition, the music of Red Roots dons a fresh coat of contemporary paint.  With their trademark banjos, mandolins and those smooth harmonies, these girls find more sonic affinity with Keith Urban and Florida Georgia Line than the old styled Southern Gospel music. Yet, lyrically these girls have never loosened their grip on issues close to the grand themes of Scripture.  And unlike other so-called veterans, they have not gone for the lowest religious denominator by substituting "God" with the generic pronoun "he."  The album titular "Triplicity" is by no mean frivolous; rather it is a triple entendre with reference to the fact that Red Roots is a trio of three girls, this is their third album, and they (Nika, Nicole and Natalie Taylor) are none other than three identical triplets. 

As soon as the melody hits, you know you have a hit waiting to happen with album opener and single "Seven Days."  With Keith Urban-esque banjo riffs and some chunky sounding mandolin sounds, "Seven Days" is one of those songs that get us into the right perspective.  Calling us to resign as CEOs of our own cosmos, Red Roots challenge us to hand the reins of our lives back to the Creator who created the world in seven days.  And if one of country music's fortes is to churn up some of the most memorable love ditties, the country sounding "Great Big Yes" has the most infectious hooks.  As the title suggests, "Great Big Yes" is the girls' big and bold declaration of love to Jesus when they croon:  "I'm on the edge and I'm trying not to fall/Is there anybody strong enough to fix this mess/The answer is a great big yes." More subdued but also in the same lyrical trajectory is the gorgeous "All of My Life." 

If the ladies are looking for a crossover success, "Ordinary Girl" is rubber stamped with the word "hit" all over.  Thanks to all the self empowerment songs trailed by Reba McEntire and Martina McBride, "Ordinary Girl" speaks of how God sometimes uses the unexpected to accomplish big things for Him.  And if you are looking for more than just the spiky propulsive numbers, look no further than the heart wrenching "If I Could."  Inspired by the story of a close friend of the girls who chose not to follow Christ and went on to pursue a totally different lifestyle, "If I Could" is essentially a prayer of longing that this friend somehow would find Jesus. For those of us who have prodigal relatives or friends, Red Roots certainly know how make our desires palatable when they sing: "I  just can't stand by and watch/You leave every truth for what don't matter much/I know it sound crazy but I'm standing my ground in love."

Red Roots do get out of the country-pop box with "Beautiful Storm" a swampy blues recess that clutters with some deep sounding banjos that poetically looks at how storms can be used by God for our holiness.   Being 22 years-old, the girls have not belied their age as they do have songs that speak to themselves and their peers. With a peddling groove, "Straight Shooter" (reminding one of their previous hit "Christian Country Girl") is their encouragements to young ladies on choosing a Godly man. If there's any constructive criticism, one would wish Red Roots were to tackle a tad more ballads or at least a couple of rootsier slowies to add to the album's diversity.  Nevertheless, album number three by this threesome is definitely a charmer.  It's simply bright, engaging, youthful, and just beautifully contagious.   

 

 

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