IT’S GOOD TO see someone named LaRue making music again. Phillip and his sister Natalie (as the band “LaRue”) shone a brief light on the turn-of-the-century Christian music scene, and have been mostly silent for the subsequent almost-decade. Their lyrics often trekked in the religious banalities common to the era, but there was something organic about their lovely, intertwined voices, their brother-sister creative partnership, and their seeming uninterest in becoming celebrity figures in a tone-deaf subculture. They stuck with guitars, pianos, as others their age went for backup dancers and glossy marketing (see Plus One and ZOEgirl, who were trying hard as possible to replicate the respective sides of the teen pop market). Sure, Phillip and Natalie wrote one of their best-known songs about an imaginary, idealistic relationship (they were 16 and 14), but they also sang about real lovers and sometimes even admitted to being “Jaded.”

Phillip LaRue
Let the Road Pave Itself
Rating: 6.2/10
[BEC Recordings; 2009]

It’s almost unseemly to credit an artist for not “sounding Christian,” but it’s a real point of comparison with other guys making similar music in Nashville, particularly Phil Wickham and Leeland, whose best efforts never manage to escape that unfortunate curse. LaRue’s songs feel baggage-free, unmarred by the burdens of label budgets or swelling Britpop ambitions. And there are some great ones here: “All I Want” is as close as this record comes to a Wickham-style tower ballad, but LaRue handles it with restraint and confidence, with a smoky David Gray-like vocal and—most importantly—without a deluge of weeping strings. Melody and damn fine singing overshadow the clichés on “Before the Sun Goes,” another of the louder moments and another Gray soundalike. “Deeper Side of You” knows the secret that rocket-launchers like Augustana’s “Boston” don’t: if that beautiful, hushed little piano melody ain’t broke, don’t fix it with a soaring breakdown.

Finding LaRue’s best work takes a bit of effort, though; things don’t really get going until “Why,” and that’s a good four tracks in. For every great song there are one and a half very, very average ones, adding up to quite a few too many that sound like they were just sitting on his hard drive. But Let the Road Pave Itself is a pleasant enough walk through Nashville’s post-CCM streets, from a guy who’s been away for too long.