Tricia Brock steps away from her day job in
Superchick to make her solo debut with
The Road, an album that takes her in a slightly different direction. While
Superchick's songs tended to assume a Christian sensibility, clearly enough to get some attention from CCM radio, the band's music carried more of a message of self-empowerment for teenage girls.
Brock turns overtly to Christian worship on
The Road. Starting with "Breath of God," she addresses herself to her Savior, praising him and declaring her own subservience. On songs like "Lean" and "Everything in Me," empowerment is abandoned in favor of selfless devotion to Jesus, or, at least, understood in the context of humble faith. "I am nothing less than everything to you,"
Brock sings in the former. The music, bearing the heavy influence of producer Nick Baumhardt, leans toward AC pop and soft rock, with piano and strings often sweetening the arrangements. The obvious antecedent for
Brock's approach is the pre-crossover period in
Amy Grant's career, but
Brock comes off as more emotional and less doctrinaire. Her message concerns a close personal relationship to the Almighty in which she recognizes her own weakness. "Though I am small," she sings in "Impossible," "my God is great." These songs present a more mature and devotional message than those of
Superchick, whose fans should be ready to absorb meatier fare if they want to follow
Brock on her own. ~ William Ruhlmann