Album Review: Chris and Daya – Envy of Stars (New Music Friday – Ep 6 winner)
Although this album was released in 2015, it may not be known to our readers and therefore is worth taking a few moments to review here. Chris and Daya are a male female duo with a bit of a country style to them. They represent a style that is pretty common for us here at EarToTheGround, so many of our faithful readers will enjoy them.
The opening track “If then I” is about romance. It’s about making a commitment to someone and standing by it. The instrumentation reminds me of early 90s pop country music. There are some swanky electric guitar lyrics and two part vocal harmonies. In fact, the whole act has a feeling of being from that era of country music. “Under the Sun” has an intriguing restatement of a concept from King Solomon’s wisdom. The message is repackaged with this pop country flair. It sounds like something I might have seen on CMT or the Christian music TV station a while back. It’s definitely got a formal, buttoned up style to it.
“Over the Wall” has some of my favorite guitar work on the album. The vocals are even a bit more understated, which I think suits Chris and Daya a bit more than the previous tracks. It leads nicely to “Just Might,” a pop country track that even has what sounds like a commercial style banjo. Rather than fingerpicking, the sound is a bit more like a guitar. The vocals on this one really sound like something from the golden age of soul music; it’s not really what I’d expect to hear on a country album.
“Signal” has a really nice acoustic guitar at the beginning with some really nice harmonies before the full band comes in. “Desert Lies” is a relaxing, softer acoustic song. The song sounds like a lullaby of sorts. “Just relax your tired eyes and soon you will be sleeping…” It’s definitely a romantic song that seems perfectly at home on this album. The final track “Envy of Stars” sounds like it could have come off an Eagles album. The lead vocal might be the best on the entire album. In fact, I’d be interested to hear Chris do a solo album some time.
All together, this album is probably going to be most popular among fans of Steven Curtis Chapman or Phillips, Craig and Dean. It’s a nice, relaxing family friendly style of country music.
