The first thing that you'll notice about Reborn, the new album by Avalon (after the sunflower, that is), will probably be that every song on the playlist is only one word long. That terseness sums up the album quite well, really. 10 songs, many of them a good bit less than 4 minutes: it's not a showy album. At least not on the surface, that is.

Upon listening to the album, you might be struck by a couple of things. One: the arrangements are lush in a nice way. Not in the same way that many of the group's best ballads are lush, mind you. But the sound is full: lots of nice guitar, good drumming. Second: the vocals are strong and dynamic. The arrangements play to the group's strength of tight harmony. Tight, like terse, is a good word to describe the album. There aren't many (if any) wasted musical measures on the album. And yet each song feels complete, each song carries a complete thought well. And the songs are well written. Will they be memorable? Time will tell on that one, really. It depends on your preference. If you like the quirkiness of A Maze of Grace, this album might really be for you. There are no hymns here. There are few "great builds" as with many of their big hits.

Honestly, upon early listens, this is probably the album that the group needed to make. There's only one original member left, and it would be very easy for them to go the utterly safe route. Which would have been nice on one level. But this album works well to honor what has gone before while reaching for a fresh sound and a fresh take on things. What is encouraging is that the lyrics are unabashedly Christian. Not much ambiguity in what they say and sing. And that's alone is reassurance enough.