Mary Mary- The Sound

The enormous contributions from gospel duo Mary Mary to the preface of 21st century urban contemporary gospel remains poignant as ever; years after their breakout debut album Thankful. Sisters Erica and Tina Campbell, along with their hit-making producer Warryn Campbell (Erica’s husband), have emerged to become important trendsetters for the ever-evolving genre. And while the girls are usually only celebrated for their gifted set of vocals, their incredible songwriting abilities, responsible for crossover inspirations like the R&B Top 50 hit “Yesterday,” the R&B Top 10 favorite “Shackles (Praise You” and “Heaven,” should be just as equally celebrated and acknowledged. And with three albums already under their belt (not including a well-received holiday album), the Inglewood duo continues their reign on the gospel charts with their street sounds and their uncanny, yet innovative approach to build a bridge for listeners to R&B’s and gospel’s glorified past. An obvious criticism most observers have noticed about Mary Mary’s music is that, sometimes, their sound tends to come off quite predictable; as if they aim to take the safest route around what is hot on the charts at that time. They pulled off a good refreshing single on Incredible and their 2005 self-titled project, but some questioned if Mary Mary had what it took to avoid being piegon-holed into a particular sound. On The Sound, the group’s fifth collection of music, the group creates their best effort yet to avoid their former Mary Mary formula and previous musical patterns. There’s no trace of obvious samples or simple melodies looping from start-to-finish aboard – a definite sign that Mary Mary put some hard work into making this project.

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