Jason Gray ‘The Kipper Gray Sessions’

Jason Gray
The Kipper Gray Sessions
(Centricity)

Jason Gray has spent years steadily perfecting the art of the pop song, crafting memorable hooks with a poet’s sensibility, and embracing the power of collaboration with some of CCM’s favorite producers and co-writers. This time around, the musical magic runs in the family. The Kipper Gray Sessions pairs the seasoned singer/songwriter with his son—up-and-coming producer Kipper Gray—and the result is absolutely delightful.

Gray’s standout pop songwriting has all the warmth and encouragement you’ve come to expect, but the real fun is in Kipper’s fearlessly playful arrangements. From the vocal warps in “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful” to the moody groove of “Time,” no sonic experiment is off limits, and every song reveals its own surprises. When “Becoming” closes out the EP with a majestically building anthem, you can’t help but feel you’ve heard the beginning of something special.

As the opening lyric says, “Together we’re a mountain/A force to be reckoned with.” When it comes to this duo, we couldn’t agree more.

–Jen Rose Yokel