I Serve a Savior

From the outset of his career, Josh Turner leaned into classic country traditions and he also began singing professionally in a gospel quartet, so it was perhaps only a matter of time before he devoted an album to gospel music. That album, I Serve a Savior, arrived in 2018, just over a year after Deep South gave him his third Billboard Country number one. Deep South relied heavily on Turner's way with a ballad, a gift that also serves him well on I Serve a Savior. Opening with a rollicking version of Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light," the record quickly shifts down a gear with "I Pray My Way Out of Trouble," a duet with Bobby Osborne. Much of the album proceeds at this sober, reflective pace, yet there are just enough uptempo cuts to give this a pulse. I Serve a Savior also gains warmth through its duets with Osborne, Sonya Isaacs, and the Turner family, along with its canny inclusion of three tracks recorded live at Gaither Studios. The end result may not deliver surprises, but it's a sturdy, comforting listen, which is precisely what it was intended to be. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine