They met while singing for Jenny Phillips, and now Soni Muller, Whitney Permann, and Brooke Stone have formed their own trio: Mercy River. They’ve just launched their freshman self-titled album, but the question is: does it make the grade?

Not living in Utah has some disadvantages, one of which is never hearing of musical artists until I receive a review copy of the CD. I did hear a few things through promotional e-mails about the new trio Mercy River, and I was excited thinking that it would be another fun group like Utah-born SheDaisy.

Imagine my surprise upon listening to the first song on the CD “You Make Us Want to Sing”. It’s absolutely NOT fun and pop-py like SheDaisy. Thinking that the other songs would be different, I continued listening only to realize that the songs are all the same. And boring.

Before I even looked at the CD insert, I knew that Jenny Phillips’ hand had been on the album. Sure enough, all of the songs were either written or co-written by Phillips. That’s not to say that Phillips’ isn’t talented, because she most certainly is. However, each CD that she releases is starting to sound exactly the same as the next one. Mercy River has the great misfortune of being just another one of Jenny Phillips’ CDs. There’s nothing unique about the voices that makes them different from any other group. Their harmonies are generic, their songs are bland, and frankly, the best thing they have going for them is their marketing director because their album photography is amazing.

If you’re a fan of Jenny Phillips, you’re definitely going to like Mercy River. But if you’re thinking that this is going to be a new and unique addition to LDS music, think again.

You can find Mercy River at LDS retailers near you or online at www.deseretbook.com. You can also visit Mercy River’s website at www.mercyrivermusic.com.