Description
Talk About Life is the sophomore album by the American singer and songwriter Kim Hill, released on Reunion Records in 1989, manufactured and distributed by Word. The album tracks were recorded by Jeff Balding assisted by Steve Bishir and Carry Summers at OmniSound Studios in Nashville, Tennessee; with Brown Bannister producing. Mixed by Balding.
As a new artist in ’88, Kim Hill set some nearly impossible standards for herself. She scored three top five singles from her debut album, an unprecedented feat for a Christian artist. Hill was also nominated for “New Artist of the Year” at the Dove Awards. Hopefully losing out to the white-hot Take 6 will not shake her confidence too much!
After listening to ‘Talk About Life’, I went back and pulled out her first LP, because I thought, “Nobody gets this good between their first and second albums, without already having a lot of talent.” While that album definitely deserved the praise of fans and radio programmers, I’m so impressed with ‘Talk About Life’ that I’ll give you my main criticism up front – there are only nine songs on it!
The album kicks off with «Inside of You», which features some slinky guitar work and snapping drums courtesy of White Heart‘s Gordon Kennedy and Chris McHugh. Along with bassist Tommy Sims, the Hearters are the basic rhythm section of the whole LP. Many of the tracks reflect the punch and vitality of their own recent work with Brown Bannister.
I don’t know whether this album was recorded before or after the White Heart LP, but certainly Bannister’s flair for contemporary rock production is no fluke. «Stop, Watch and Listen» is a bit of sassy pop, while «Secret Place» slows things down just a bit, and allows Hill to reflect on private moments with the Lord, in her dusky alto voice.
«Snake in the Grass» takes a page out of the Melissa Etheridge songbook, and suggests that both Hill and Bannister have been busy assaying AOR radio and the pages of ‘Billboard’. Hill is given excellent vocal and guitar support by Wayne Kirkpatrick on this acoustic rocker. The unique arrangement features a blend of guitar, real and synthesized strings, and delicate percussion shadings.
You probably won’t hear a cowpunk music track with a drawling speed-rap laid over the top of it on any other Christian record this year (unless Wild Blue Yonder reunites), but that’s the closest I can come to describe «Let’s Talk About Life». Such a serious title almost demands a bit of tongue-in-cheek.
With «Closer to a Broken Heart», Kim takes what sounds like a typical heartache situation and puts a fresh twist on it – the Lord is closer to someone with a broken heart. «Turning» is a bit of a lyrical miscue – a Dylanesque slice-of-streetlife story that doesn’t ring quite true, but it’s redeemed by a neo-baroque arrangement, and a wry vocal reading from Kim. It would be nicer to hear more tracks like «Testimony» on the radio. Not the “here’s how I got saved” type of testimony, but in Kim Hill’s case, as she sings in the chorus, “You are my lifeline… this is my testimony.”
Lest anyone think Ms. Hill is seduced by her own good looks, she includes the disclaimer «Charm Is Deceitful», where she rightly observes of her feminine attributes, “I know when He sees me/ It won’t be beauty that He longs to hold/ It’ll be the love He finds inside my heart.”
It is always a very encouraging sign for Christian music when a young artist doesn’t just find a formula that works and sticks with it. Kim Hill’s growth as a writer and singer on ‘Talk About Life’ is exceptional. Let’s hope next year they divvy up a few of those awards that the vets have been raking in and pass them along to a least one deserving newcomer. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, August 1989]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/talk-about-life/304832658)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Inside Of You” – 4:22
A2. “Stop, Watch And Listen” – 5:14
A3. “Secret Place” – 4:45
A4. “Snake In The Grass” – 4:08
Side Two
B1. “Let’s Talk About Life” – 2:01
B2. “Closer To A Broken Heart” – 3:37
B3. “Turning” – 3:34
B4. “Testimony” – 3:53
B5. “Charm Is Deceitful” – 2:14
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Reunion Records.
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