Okay, we've had Petra's Petra en Alabanza (Petra Praise) and plenty of Crystal Lewis (who still breaks out in song in Spanish during her concerts). While I mean no disrespect to Petra or Lewis, there has been a huge void of praise and worship offerings popularly released for Spanish language worshippers. Leave it to Vineyard to come to the rescue with an excellent, nicely-paced project that rocks at times and mostly wrenches the heart. There are familiar songs in Alma Hambrienta (Hungry: Falling on My Knees), and I'll name the English titles that the listener knows: "Your Name is Holy," "Hungry: Falling on My Knees," and one of the sweetest versions of Marie Barnett's "Breathe" that I've ever heard. The only weakness of this recording is that some sounds like Hillsong's Youth Alive ("Tu Nombre es Santo" ["Your Name is Holy"]), "Refugio en Ti" ("Refuge in You") or ("Solo Tu" ["Only You"]), which sounds like it's from David Ruis' The Mystery. Encompassing the song "Breathe" is a medley of worship tunes that could lull the listener to sleep instead of worship. Varying the musical pace of this project would have strengthened it immensely; however, that fact cannot detract from the fact that Alma Hambrienta is indeed a breath of fresh air for fans of praise and worship offerings. Proof that Alma Hambrienta is not Spanish-wannabe is excellent arrangements of authentic instrumentation; check out the percussion on "La Creacion Busca de Ti" ("All Creation"), and I think the listener will agree!
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