Gospel Road
Artist:  Brian Houston
Label:  Brian Houston Songs
Time:  11 Tracks / 30 mins
 
I’ve heard a lot of Houston’s material over the years, but now I have absolutely no idea where he is going next. Once it was fairly straightforward: on fine discs like Jesus and Justice and Sugar Queen he was a singer-songwriter with a Van Morrison edge. Then last time – on possible career-best Three Feet from Gold – he sounded like a band that showed more of an Elvis Costello and the Attractions influence. Now he has gone retro to a style that is somewhere between country gospel, ‘50s and ’60s old-pop and doo-wop. 
 
When Houston starts singing, “When a Man Loves the Lord” – a song that Johnny Cash or Presley would have loved to sing – you really can almost see an arm crossing to the middle of a Dansette and hear crackles on vinyl. He has such an authentic sound, right down to the guitar chops and style of the backing singers.
 
Authenticity runs to the lyrics, too. Not for the first time reviewing Houston’s work, I want to quote half the words to either show how he gets inside people’s hearts, or catch a bit of his wordplay or humor. In “All I Need” he rhymes ‘disappointed’ with ‘my poor head’ as well as ‘feeble’ with ‘people’. Not groundbreaking stuff maybe, but this is a genre where people don’t do poetry, so the little flourishes stand out, and – with one or two small exceptions – he consistently refuses to put in rhymes that are obvious. More importantly, rather than self-centred words, “When a Man Loves the Lord” has biblical, psalm-like words about how Christians should live:

            When a man loves the Lord he acts justly,
            When a man loves the Lord he is fair,
            His compassion flows free for the poor and the weak,
            When a man truly loves the Lord.

Or, on “The Lord is still the Lord” he keeps the psalm-like qualities, but updates them to suit the credit crunch era:

 The price of property’s going down (The Lord is still the Lord)
 And every job is leaving town (The Lord is still the Lord) 
 When you don’t know just what to do (The Lord is still the Lord)
 The Lord will still provide for you (The Lord is still the Lord). 

Among the highlights are “Sweet Jesus,” where Houston tells our story of going from being wounded to being healed by love, and taking the suffering that we still get and then using it to build character: “Pain no stranger on my way / Yet redemption’s purpose fashions wisdom and humility.” This is where music truly is honest and faith-building. The simplicity of its style belies the richness of the content.
 
Hearing Gospel Road suggests that Houston has found an old record of the best of the late ‘50s, nicked the most natural tunes and changed all the words. The melodies sound that familiar. Even I, who have never felt satisfied by this genre of music, can’t help but sing along to some of these songs, because the melody, joy and truth are irresistible.
 
This passionately-sung disc may only be thirty minutes long (almost) but that’s because he has filtered out virtually all the filler. It is full of wise songs about Jesus and overflows with joy, hope, grace and celebration. If you’re a fan of the Elvis and Johnny Cash Sun Studios material, you can safely add another tock.
 
Derek Walker