Glorious

To his credit, Paul Baloche doesn’t rely on blazing guitars and thunderous drums to sustain the impact of Glorious. This much-honored composer of worship music delivers a selection of deeply reverent modern-day hymns with unaffected conviction rather than bombast. Tracks like “Wonderful God,” “Almighty” and the title tune are joyful and awestruck in tone, defined by graceful melodic contours and eloquent, Scripture-rooted lyrics. Certain tracks — especially the uplifting “A New Hallelujah” — have a touch of Coldplay-like minimalism to their arrangements. The piano-centered “To the Cross” is a powerful expression of a believer’s gratitude, and lyrically “Shaken” (composed by Paul’s wife Rita) tackles the theme of faith strengthened by adversity. Despite its rock-oriented arrangements, Glorious often seems to harken back to an earlier era of church music, when Spirit rather than wattage was the force electrifying the congregation. Baloche manages to invoke this tradition while keeping his sound intimate, heartfelt and thoroughly contemporary.