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Group Name: N’Harmony
Website: www.nharmonymusic.com
Album Title: “Favorites (pre-release)”
Song Titles:

1. Step Into The Water
2. Old Time Religion
3. The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power
4. He Loves Me
5. Run On
6. It Is Well
7. I Can See The Hand
8. Lord Feed Your Children
9. Life Will Be Sweeter
10. Beulah Land

When N’Harmony retired almost 6 years ago, many Southern Gospel fans were saddened.  Now, however, lead vocalist Shane Dunlap (formerly of N’Harmony and the Signature Sound Quartet) has re-formed the group for a return to the Southern Gospel arena.  Joining him are tenor vocalist Brent Mitchell (formerly of Mercy’s Mark Quartet), baritone vocalist Chris Whitaker (formerly of Won By One), and Will Van Wyngarden (formerly of the Journeymen Quartet).

“Favorites” is a budget project that is meant to re-introduce the group to Southern Gospel listeners.  The album is just what it calls itself- a collection of Southern Gospel favorites.  There is a real emphasis on the vocals on this album, as evidenced by the relatively scaled-down instrumentation throughout.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: THE SONGS!

Starting off the album is the up-tempo “Step Into The Water”.  This is bass vocalist Will Van Wyngarden’s only true feature on the album, and he handles it well.  I really enjoyed hearing Will with the Journeymen, and I’m glad to see him “back in the saddle”, so to speak.  The blend of vocals is smooth and tight.  Next up is the medium-tempo “Old Time Religion.  Chris Whitaker, Shane Dunlap, and Brent Mitchell, in that order, are featured on the verses of this song, and Will Van Wyngarden has some little “snippet” solos throughout.  The accompaniment is nothing but a piano, which gives the rendition a nice sound overall.  The third song is the slower power ballad, “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power”.  The feature here goes to baritone vocalist Chris Whitaker.  He has a powerful voice for a baritone, and he shows off some decent range on this song.  The tempo stays about the same as tenor vocalist Brent Mitchell is featured on the ballad, “He Loved Me”.  I will be the first to admit that I’ve always thought of Mitchell as a powerful, almost screaming tenor at times.  However, this song shows me a softer side of his vocals that I’ve never had the privilege of hearing before.  This makes for a very nice sound overall.

Song #5 is a bluegrass-inspired, up-tempo number called “Run On”.  Lead vocalist Shane Dunlap is featured here, and this style of song seems to fit his voice perfect.  He has that “country flair” to his voice.  This may very well be my favorite cut of the entire album.  The next song is the beautiful hymn, “It Is Well”.  Baritone Chris Whitaker is once again featured, and he puts a lot of feeling into his vocals here.  He also shows off quite a bit of range.  The seventh song is the up-tempo “I Can See The Hand”.  Tenor vocalist Brent Mitchell is featured on the verses, and bass vocalist Will Van Wyngarden has some nice pickup solos as well.  The key change on the third verse pushes the vocalists higher than they’ve been so far on the album, and while Brent is on pitch with his pickup line to the third chorus, it sounds like he is pushing it just a bit. 

Lead vocalist Shane Dunlap is featured on the eighth song, “Lord Feed Your Children”.  This is a softer, slower version of the more familiar one done by the Gaither Vocal Band years ago, but that’s not a bad thing.  Shane delivers a solid vocal throughout this entire song, and the group’s vocal blend on the choruses is tight.  Song #9 is a medium-tempo song called “Life Will Be Sweeter”.  The whole group is featured on this song, and there are some nice chord progressions throughout that really show off the group’s abilities.  Finally, the album ends with an a cappella rendition of the Squire Parsons classic, “Beulah Land”.  Some would question only doing one chorus of this song and nothing else, but I personally think it’s a great way to end the album.

I think that this project is an excellent re-introduction of N’Harmony to Southern Gospel fans.  Shane Dunlap has assembled a group that should be very good, and I look forward to their first full studio album.  I do think that this album was a bit heavy on the slower, ballad-style songs and could have used at least another medium-tempo song and another up-tempo song.  Overall, I would give this album a rating of 9 out of 10 microphones!

Favorites: “Step Into The Water”, “Run On”, and “I Can See The Hand”