Grace Hotel 
   Overall Rating: ++++ 

Album Review

The first thing that strikes me about this band is the absolutely gorgeous vocals by members Marc Byrd and Christine Glass. His is heart melting and hers is angelic and ethereal.
The next thing I notice is that this recording is VERY religious (Christian) as you would think by reading the track listing. While this is usually a huge turn-off for me, the music is just so beautiful that I can't help but really like this CD.
The opening song "This Window" is a great way to start the CD. It slams you right away with those amazing voices. If you like Christian music that doesn't sound like Sandy Patti and the like, and where there is no "cheese" to be found this is would be a nice addition to your collection.
~ Amy

She's a celebrated soloist known for her ethereal vocals and introspective songs. He's remembered as the frontman for the short-lived band Common Children, and more recently, one of the most prominent creative voices influencing the City On A Hill albums. Upon marrying in 2000, Christine Glass and Marc Byrd discovered a mutual love of atypical worship music -- music that worships through observation of the beauty of living life and appreciation for God's design and Jesus' sacrifice.

It wasn't long before GlassByrd was born (or Adore, as the duo was originally known), and Byrd set to work with longtime collaborator Steve Hindalong on producing an album for the new group. Hindalong proves himself to be the group's unofficial third member, contributing to much of the songwriting and putting his distinctive modern/organic spin on the production. The music has a rich, blissful, dreamlike quality, employing rock guitars, drum loops, and everything in between, but rarely moving above a mild tempo (a la "God of Wonders," a new version of which is also included). Glass and Byrd blend their voices well, despite their very different vocal styles, and the production serves as a perfect hybrid outlet for them both.

The disc's thirteen tracks address topics ranging from the beauty of nature, thankfulness for Christ's sacrifice, reflections on the journey, our need for God's eternal mercy, the joy romantic love brings, and how we all share similar wounds and how this draws us all together. There's a recurring theme of trying to figure God out, describe Him, get a tangible hold on Him, and the closer you get to succeeding, the harder it becomes. This is music the kind of music that digs deeper -- much deeper, and frankly, we get far too little of this from Christian Music.

It's an ironic turn of events that these two are now signed to a major label, since both of them languished in virtual obscurity with their past work, on independent labels, despite heavy critical acclaim for both. Perhaps it's not irony at all -- could it be a case of God's perfect timing? Anyone who listens to Open Wide This Window will be convinced.

Worshipful in a genuine and unpretentious way, soothing, unrestrained, wildly artistic, and smart, Open Wide This Window is a gripping, passionate example of precisely what Christian Music needs more of.

Album cover courtesy

~Robert Parrish