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    The Phantom Tollbooth 2000/V*Enna
    V*Enna — Where I Wanna Be cover

    V*Enna

    Where I Wanna Be

    (2000)

    Reviewed by James Stewart

    DiscogsYouTube
    Label Essential RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2000
    ccmdance popeuropoppop

    You know the score. Another fresh-faced group aiming to save the world (musically and/or spiritually) through the favoured genre of a particular section of its younger population. In this case, it's the so-called "pure pop" which has grown out of the commercialization and homogenization of the "club anthem."

    V-Enna's songs of devotion and exhortation place them at the forefront of the "Christian" response to the pure-pop phenomenon. There isn't the same edge which is to be found on a Britney Spears single or the pop-diva range of Jessica Simpson, but the first few tracks have a fairly pleasant vibe running through.

    Like many in their genre, it is when they attempt to move into the minefield that is the world of ballads where V-Enna lose their way. "All the Way to Heaven" and "Don't Get Left Behind" in particular, coming at the end of the album, don't really have any distinctiveness or energy and fall rather flat as a result.

    V-Enna's debut is certainly a fair attempt at jumping into the "pure pop" world, but while this may please some Christian radio outlets, it will probably take something a little more boundary-testing to establish them.

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