This Gospel Has a Potent Message

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KIRK FRANKLIN

“The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin”

Gospo Centric

Gospel is just fine as is. It remains such a key source of power and feeling within popular music that maybe the sound didn’t need an update. But Kirk Franklin has managed for nearly a decade to inject hip-hop and modern R&B; into classic gospel without cheapening the music or forgetting its original purpose. Not better, but potent just the same.

If too much contemporary Christian music is a thin echo of the pop charts, Franklin ignites his gospel with a musical awareness that puts him in direct competition with secular pop. (His last solo album was 1998’s 2-million-selling “Nu Nation Project.”) And while some of “The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin” (due in stores Tuesday) is sugary soul-pop, other passages retain a rousing, tradition-based sound, recruiting such stirring gospel voices as Shirley Caesar and the late Willie Neal Johnson.

Other sounds emerge in unexpected ways. The confessional “911” tackles fears of modern terrorism in a setting that weirdly suggests the super-smooth rhythms and breathy vocals of Barry White. More often, Franklin finds inspiration in ‘70s-era Stevie Wonder, in the horn-powered funk of “Brighter Day” and the quietly passionate ballad “The Blood Song.”

Another Wonder precedent can be found in the album’s dramatic opening, which re-creates the abandonment and spiritual rescue of Franklin as a child.

The two-minute track is just wrenching and realistic enough that some listeners may skip past it on quieter Sunday mornings. But “Rebirth” never strays off message: It’s Christian music aimed mainly at a Christian audience. But like classic gospel, the best of Franklin’s deeply emotional music can resonate loudly for anyone.

Steve Appleford

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VARIOUS ARTISTS

“Queen of the Damned”

soundtrack

Warner Bros./Reprise

In the latest adaptation from Anne Rice’s vampire novel series, the bloodsucker Lestat (Stuart Townsend) has become a rock star whose haunting sounds cause a banished vampire queen (played by the late Aaliyah) to reawaken and create havoc on Earth.

While it could have been really intriguing if the filmmakers had cast an actual rock singer in the role, they did the next best thing by enlisting Korn’s Jonathan Davis to write Lestat’s music and do the singing parts in the film.

But due to contractual restrictions that limit the Epic Records artist’s appearances on other labels, Davis’ vocals aren’t heard on the album (in stores Tuesday). Instead, he and writing partner Richard Gibbs hired some stunt doubles from the ranks of Davis’ gloom metal peers. The result is a collection that’s malevolent and melodramatic at times, but never monotonous.

With more bewitching, Bauhaus-like goth melodies than brutal aggro rhythms, Davis’ tunes seem to gain texture with each successive vocal style, from voracious (Static-X’s Wayne Static on “Not Meant for Me”) to frustrated (Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington on “System”) to otherworldly (Marilyn Manson on “Redeemer”).

The five new tracks (which are supplemented by older songs from Deftones, Static-X, Tricky and others) conjure up the right blend of sensuality and menace, but it will be hard for listeners not to wonder how Davis’ trademark anguished growls will sound on each cut, and whether he interprets this material in the dark and tormented way that makes Korn’s music so compelling. That makes the album not just an intriguing musical experiment, but also an incentive to go see the movie. Lina Lecaro

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DAMIEN JURADO AND

GATHERED IN SONG

“I Break Chairs”

Sub Pop

What has this enduring Seattle folkie gathered? Bandmates. A repertoire. And momentum, if his fourth album (due Tuesday) finally allows the chronically mopey singer-songwriter to emerge from a large shadow--his own.

Shifting seamlessly from crunchy rockers to meandering mini-dramas to finger-picked confidences, Jurado and band provide a sonic context for powerful storytelling. The frontman’s vocals are the main attraction, a resonant husk that cuts a swath through all manner of atmospherics. Jurado need not sell a song, only sing it.

His protagonists wage mighty battles, mostly with themselves. Not that anybody’s writing them off. “Don’t ever let me lose my head,” Jurado pleads on the album’s finale, but by then it’s apparent he has found his.

Kevin Bronson

In Brief

*** Luka Bloom, “Between the Mountain and the Moon,” Bar/None. Although the Irish singer-songwriter’s sixth album is often as subdued as it is sensual--most of the songs don’t have drums--this might be the one to give him a David Gray-like shot at belated mainstream attention. His mix of humid romance (“Monsoon”), tributes to fortitude and dedication (“Love Is a Place I Dream Of,” a duet with Sinead O’Connor, honors a Dublin woman who works with homeless children) and music informed by both his cultural roots and a global perspective is a seductive package.

Steve Hochman

*** 1/2 Kosheen, “Resist,” Kinetic. This U.K. dance-music trio’s surprisingly mature debut album (due Tuesday) establishes a solid identity while moving through a wide range of musical styles. From the techno “Cover” to the soulful ballad “Harder” to the smooth beats of the title track, there’s never any question it’s Kosheen, thanks to the distinct vocals of frontwoman Sian Evans.

Steve Baltin

** 1/2 Kevin Tihista’s Red Terror, “Don’t Breathe a Word,” Atlantic. To hear this Chicagoan tell it, even sensitive, soft-pop guys have urges. “Oh honey, I’m in distress,” Tihista coos on the second of a dozen sugary love songs, “So what’s it gonna take for you to lose the dress?” Either the most subversive pop or the gentlest rock album ever made, Tihista’s debut undulates between heartache and headache, never too far from a strum and a sigh and reluctant to get too self-conscious about it. K.B.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.