(Photo :Naomi Taylor)

There are some artists who can impress with bombastic shouts of praise driven by the latest dance grooves or auto-voicing.  Then there are others that can sway the heart quietly with carefully crafted words and the simplicity of just the piano.  Naomi Taylor belongs to the latter.  You won't hear a fanfare of the latest technological fireworks; you won't hear the applause of thousands after every crescendo in her songs.  Rather, on "My Soul Waits," you will hear piercing words interwoven with Scripture as Taylor gently woos, conjures, impresses and caresses our hearts to lean in to Jesus our Divine Lover and friend.  In many ways, Taylor reminds us of Jesus Culture's Kim Walker.  Using piano-driven ballads as her stock in trade, Taylor knows how to allow the Holy Spirit to fill her songs as she churns and yearns for God.  Born a Canadian in Kalispell, MT, Taylor grew up in Alberta before moving to the US when she was only 14-years-old.  "My Soul Waits" is apparently her debut record of 10 songs, 9 new tracks with 2 versions of her single and title cut "My Soul Waits."  The songs are mostly written by her or/with Carmin Taylor.

Prepare to be stunned with holy awe as Taylor sings the opening lines of "How I Love Him."  With a heart-warming perspicuity, she sings:  "He speaks with rolls of thunder/Yet He whispers to me/His eyes sell all creation/Yet He gazes upon me/His hands can split the mountains/Yet gently He holds me."   Not since John McMillan's "How He Loves Us" has the ways of how God relates to us been put together in such contrasting beauty.  Continuing in the same balladry line is "Overwhelmed."  Not the Hillsong/Darlene Zschech song of the same titular, "Overwhelmed" is an acoustic sounding worship ballad expressed as a beautiful love song to Jesus.  Fans of Kim Walker and Jesus Culture would definitely devour "My Soul Waits." A pensive ballad with lots of Holy Spirit soaking moments, Taylor takes her time to meditate on Psalm 130. 

Taylor doesn't just run endless circles around the same style right through the record.  She does indulge in some Fiona Apple's folk on "Open Heaven."  With echoes of Luke 3:21-22 about Jesus seeing heaven open with language of love from the Song of Songs, this is a love song to Jesus with a difference.  "The Bride" turns the coin around to a creative glimpse of how Jesus views his "Bride," the church.   While "You Are Great" features some crunching guitar riffs over a country -esque tune of worship. Starting off some organ flourishes before the introduction of cascading drums and electric guitar, "I Won't Rest" is a contemporary pop piece giving articulation to Taylor's yearning for more of God.  However, not everything works, "Fall in Love" and "My Soul" are too repetitive, recycling the same balladry style already ubiquitous throughout the record.

On "My Soul Waits" finds Taylor digging deep, mining the great theme of God's incomparable love from different angles and making it palatable for us.  She has a way of getting beyond our ears to our hearts in a way that is sensitive, penetrating and transforming.  If you ever have doubts about God's love or if you are in a dry season of doubt, put this CD into your computer and let these songs of worship woo us back into the loving arms of our Savior again.