Amy Grant is an artist who has seen and done a lot, both in life and music. At 50, she is still the best-selling Christian music singer ever (30 million albums sold).

Her latest, Somewhere Down The Road, is organised around the theme of the journey of life and it’s a mix of new songs, covers, and a few reworked old songs.

The production here is clearly adult-contemporary, but Grant’s sound is not a million miles from Sheryl Crow. There are some real highs on this album too. “Third World Woman” and “Overnight” have an earthy, organic quality in spite of their glossy production.

I found myself wishing that Grant had gone further in this dust-covered, country direction, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Too often she falls prey to treacly pop songwriting, and it makes Somewhere Down The Road a mixed bag, though still worth the money if you are a long-time Amy Grant fan.

Three and a half stars out of five

– Rhett Snell