Whoa, what happened here? Is this the same Michelle Tumes honored with an ASCAP award for Christian Songwriter of the Year for her brilliant debut, Listen? With Dream, Tumes has done a doughnut in the sands of musical style. It's a clear step into a dance-pop-infused world in which Tumes trades depth and mood for fun and frolic. Her angelic voice still shimmers on tracks like the title cut, "Love Shines Through," and "Blessings Flow." But what we miss the most here is Tumes's ability to mingle musical backgrounds into a unique and notable soundscape, so well captured in her first two releases. Somewhere along that road, Tumes spun out into a ditch full of lightweights. Her fans will probably find enough here to like, but it will be hard to draw newcomers to a Dream we've all heard too often elsewhere. --Michael Lyttle Review by Amazon.com |