Disappointing Sounds from Alanna-Marie Boudreau

I first discovered Alanna-Marie Boudreau's music more than a year ago.  Sadly, I've been increasingly disappointed with her more recent performances.  "I'll Be Your Woman" from her Hints & Guesses album was a track I could overlook--given the fresh originality of her first album, Hands in the Land.  Two more recent performances, though, are also bringing a return of this sappy and sentimental crooning. 

In "O Come Let Us Adore Him" from a collection: O Come Let Us Adore: A Christmas Collective, she turns a Christmas classic into something slow and about as celebratory as April 15th tax day.  Again, in her most recent release entitled "Simon (Petros)," she takes a soft approach to otherwise thought-provoking lyrics.  The sentimental--almost easy-listening--direction of her music is indeed a disappointment.  She could be a force to be reckoned with, if only each new song didn't come across as an echo of a past one.  Sadly, there's a problem with Catholic music.  Usually, the content of present-day Catholic music is not articulated well, and the music is hardly worth mentioning.  In Alanna's case, the lyrics are most often very good, but it feels like she's having difficulty finding her unique voice this year.  Here's hoping she does better in 2016!