The Water I Give

One gets the suspicion that Dottie Peoples would respectfully disagree if someone used the term "Contemporary Christian Music" to describe her work in her presence. Unlike the CCM crowd, whose work is basically mainstream pop music with vaguely religious-themed lyrics, Dottie Peoples performs straight-up, full-throated gospel in the Southern black tradition. On her 11th album (not counting compilations), Peoples does dip a toe into CCM's pool with the title track, a dramatic and modern R&B-styled ballad that with secular lyrics could be a smash for the likes of Toni Braxton, and the closing "Thank You," which takes its cues from the slinky funk groove of Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)." On the other ten tracks, however, this onetime protégée of the great Shirley Caesar stays in the church, delivering one powerful example of old-fashioned gospel after another, alternating between call-and-response rave-ups and more reflective balladry.