Chris and Conrad

Much ado is made for new pop duo Chris and Conrad about their hooks and ideas for the new self-titled album. On the band’s bio, the Chris part (Chris Kuti) says, “Writing for us consists of a multitude of, what we like to term, hook ideas.” And this methodology is readily apparent on the twosome’s self-titled debut for VSR Music Group.

The most striking example comes early with “Rescue,” featuring a poor man’s Paper Route sample/synth, boy-band vocal work and even a vocoder a la Kanye. Noble idea? Perhaps. Does it work? Far from it. But kudos to the guys for refusing to rest in some formulaic rut.

The musical ideas are different each way you look. “Always There” is a straightforward Needtobreathe meets The Fray tune as Kuti and bandmate Conrad Johnson take turns singing lines “You’ve got a plan for me, got a plan for me/But it’s hard for me to see, hard for me to see.” “Buried Alive” treads more Christian inspo territory and would be at home on a MercyMe album. “Love Revolution” is titled like a newsboys track but plays like Skillet lite.

Corporate worship tunes are scattered throughout Chris and Conrad. “Lead Me to the Cross” is the odd lead single from the album, considering it’s the album’s worst track. The half-hearted revision of the Hillsong United song removes the beautiful live emotion from Brooke Fraser’s fronted version and follows verbatim every bit of instrumentation from the first. “Sing Hallelujah” is the best song and deserves a proper release of its own.

“I’m at Home” highlights the best vocal harmony work on the album and the most interesting percussion and rhythm. Some slight attempts at a Coldplay piano progression segue between verse and chorus are distracting, but by song’s end, the distractions fall to a strong build and vocal trade-offs.

If anything, Chris and Conrad have thrown enough ideas at the wall to observe what sticks. Here’s hoping they take what works and throw away the rest for future projects.

Tagged as: Chris and Conrad

↓ 4 comments

#1 Greg on June 3rd, 2009 at 10:32 pm

Their version of Lead Me to the Cross is a little rigid.

#2 Mark on June 10th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

Buried Alive is an EPIC track and hardly “Inspo”. You missed the best track – YOU’RE THE ONE. I’m trying to find the other corporate worship songs that are “scattered throughout” besides the two you mentioned. Maybe you should listen again, top to bottom without skipping around… I saw them live and picked up the album. Dude, you are way off…

#3 james on June 11th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

Obviously their style is not your favorite, which clearly shows in your somewhat cutting review… Do you REALLY think Lead Me To The Cross is the weakest track? Why then is it doing so well on Christian radio?? At least I don’t find myself knodding off in my cereal bowl when I listen to their version, like I find myself doing with the Hillsong original (perhaps it should be renamed “Lead Me To A Nap”)… Also you have completely overlooked or failed to even catch the contribution of members of Mutemath on this project, not exactly a band known for contributing to halfhearted attempts at music… Oh well, guess we can’t all have your keen insight, hidden away in an obscure website I would have never even encountered had I not done a Chris and Conrad search on Google!

#4 John Wofford on June 13th, 2009 at 2:33 am

Okay, James, if there’s one thing history has taught us, it’s that success on Christian radio means nothing in terms of the quality of art on hand. Let’s be honest for a second, you’re a fan who was made to think twice about the quality of music you loved, and now you’re angry. Ironically, that’s the purpose of music criticism. We, on our obscure website that enjoyed press from the LA Times last year, tend to push ourselves and the artists we review a little further than the comfort zones of a lot of listeners. Which is fine. No harm, no foul.

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