Tori Kelly Album review and Giveaway of "Hiding Place"

Until last spring(?), I really didn't have much of an idea who Tori Kelly was, but my Middlest had decided that he really liked her music, and regularly shared videos of her collaborating with a variety of artists with me, both well known and not. I had no idea that she was the voice of the elephant in SING! until months after we watched it... However, I have been very impressed with her voice, and was delighted to be sent a copy of her new project Hiding Place for review and a giveaway! The giveaway form is at the bottom, and just a heads up that this giveaway is of super short duration.

If you don't know a lot about her (like me), then here's a little more information from the officially released biography to give you some insight.

While working on the follow-up to her debut album Unbreakable Smile—a 2015 release that premiered at #2 on the Billboard 200—Tori Kelly felt compelled to include a track that honored her lifelong passion for gospel music. With the help of her manager, Scooter Braun, the L.A.-based singer/songwriter soon connected with Kirk Franklin, a 12-time Grammy Award-winning gospel artist and one of Kelly’s musical idols. “I flew to Dallas and Kirk showed me a few songs he’d written, and I fell in love with all of them,” says Kelly, a 2016 Grammy Award nominee for Best New Artist. “Next thing you know, one song turned into us doing a whole album together. It just took on a life of its own.”

With its RandB-infused, deeply melodic take on classic gospel, Hiding Place offers up what Franklin refers to as “hope-pop”—a classification that fully resonates with Kelly. “One of the things I want for this album is for people to feel uplifted and encouraged when they listen,” she says. “I want them to know that, no matter what they’re going through, there’s a God who loves them so much and so unconditionally, and there’s always a reason to feel hope. That’s what I really believe in, and I want everyone out there to hear my heart.”

As Kelly explains, the title to Hiding Place draws inspiration from a line in one of her favorite psalms (“You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with songs of deliverance”). “That always stuck with me: this idea of God being a place of safety, a place where you can hide from all the crazy things that this world can throw at us,” she notes.

Produced by Franklin, Hiding Place unfolds with a lush yet simply adorned sound beautifully suited to Kelly’s incomparable voice. “I’ve worked with Mary J. Blige, Bono, Yolanda Adams, and I’ve never seen anyone that’s a monster behind the microphone like Tori Kelly,” says Franklin. “She’d nail one song in three takes, and all those takes were amazing. It set the bar higher for my whole career.”

I love it when Christians are picked up for their talent, not simply because of their worldview, and Tori Kelly certainly fits that mold. From Kirk Franklin's description, she reminds me of another young (Christian) artist who took the music industry by storm a few decades ago, Alison Krauss. If the pattern holds true, hold on, because there must be even more great music in store down the road!

The songs on the CD are a combination of Kirk Franklin pieces and songs that he co-wrote with Tori specifically for this album.

1. Masterpiece featuring Lecrae~ The basic concept/message is very good, but musically I don't feel it's her best piece vocally on the album. Middlest likes this one however, so maybe it's my "old" ears... ;)

2. Help Us To Love featuring The HamilTones ~ very deep south gospel feel, with a GREAT message. We need this song!


3. Sunday ~ This is the song on the album that speaks of confession and redemption~ that our "Sunday clothes" aren't who we are, and that we need God's grace every day of the week~

4. Just As Sure featuring Jonathan McReynolds ~ "Just as sure as trials come, to pull me close to You. In Your presence now I see, a God I never knew.... I know You love me, just as I do love You." Lovely song.

5. Psalm 42 ~


6. Questions ~because faith is never easy... This girl has read Ecclesiates... and the Psalms...

7. Never Alone~  featuring Kirk Franklin (listen to it yourself... )


8. Soul's Anthem (It Is Well) ~ A beautiful nod to one of my favorite hymns...

*UPDATED Comments
Because there was such a short turn around on this review, I was only able to listen to the tracks from my computer. Listening to them on good speakers (in the car) the day after posting brought out so many more layers than I had heard in my initial listen. Also, my Berklee (Boston Music, not CA Science) trained husband heard it for the first time, and was very impressed with the intricacies in chord changes. This is not a standard, 3-chord pop album in any way shape or form, and I wanted to make sure that this was clear.

Purchase Hiding Place Here

and sign up to win a copy (For you or for a friend) below... The giveaway ends at 12 midnight Sunday morning, the 16th. If you're interested, don't wait because you might miss out! :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blessings~

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller/FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on the same blog, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

#TKHidingPlace & #FlyBy