Josh Wilson

Life Is Not a Snapshot
Sparrow Records

There is a race being run in contemporary Christian music to see who can become the first, sanctified Jason Mraz. Josh Wilson is currently in the lead (with Jake Smith and Jimmy Needham nipping at his heels), though “Life Is Not a Snapshot” bears less of Mraz’s stamp than 2008’s breakthrough-built “Like Trying to Fit the Ocean in a Cup.”

Mraz continues to abide in Wilson’s phrasing and vocal delivery but the record’s instrumentation largely lends itself to a more mainstream, contemporary sound. Gone is the experimental, electronic flashes; and the atmospheric minimalism (a la early Pedro the Lion) of his debut has been beefed up with the swells of a praise band.

But Wilson’s remarkable knack for hooks and lyrics seem to be here to stay. If “Before the Morning” isn’t featured in the season-finale montage of a reality television show by the end of the year, I’ll be surprised.