Jaci Velasquez's "Beauty Has Grace" Turns 10 Years-Old

Released on May 3, 2005, singer and songwriter Jaci Velasquez's "Beauty Has Grace" just turned ten years-old.  Back then, only twenty five years old, she had had been the princess of Christian Latin music for nearly a decade. With "Beauty Has Grace" marking her tenth studio release in nine years (including her popular strictly-Spanish releases), Velasquez changes her musical direction entirely. Removing herself completely from the States, Jaci flew to London, England to work with British producer Martin Terefe (Cold Play, Ron Sexsmith). The album was written and recorded in four months out of England's own Kennsington Sessions studio. The end result is a complete rebirth for Velazquez.

Velasquez co-wrote six of the ten album tracks.  She decided to name the album "Kensaltown", after Kensal Town and the studio where she recorded and wrote the album, but the label was concerned that people would confuse "Kensaltown" with "Tinsel Town" so they changed it to "Beauty Has Grace," a line in the song "This Love.."

The release date for the album was pushed back several times, finally it was released on May 3, 2005. The label also changed the track listing of the album which first featured the song "Hold On to This Moment", but it was replaced for "Reason to Believe." A special edition of the album was released by Family Christian Stores with a bonus track, "Love Will Find You".

The album peaked at #2 on Billboard Christian Album chart and #195 on Billboard 200.  The album produced four ingles:  1."Lay It Down" 2."Something Beautiful" 3."With All My Soul" 4."Prayer to Love."

Reviews, in general, were favourable.

"At a glance ... though it's simplistic lyrically, Beauty Has Grace is still an otherwise bold sonic curveball from one known for her Latin pop and adult contemporary sound."  - ChristianityToday

"Lyrically the album portrays a mixture of the difficulties of life and the strength of God in our lives. Jaci has taken a gamble in this recording, which should pay off over here."  - Cross Rhythms

Track listing

1. "I'm Not Looking Down" - 3:47 written by Jaci Velasquez, Michael Clarke and Martin Terefe
2. "With All My Soul" - 3:59 written by Jaci Velasquez, Marc Byrd and Steve Hindalong
3. "Prayer to Love" - 4:08 written by Jaci Velasquez, Hunter Davis and Chris Faulk
4. "Lay It Down" - 4:01 written by Chris Eaton, Don Poythress and Brian White
5. "Something Beautiful" - 3:28 written by Jeremy Rose and Yancy
6. "Tonight" - 3:52 Feat. Michael Clarke written by Marc Byrd
7. "When You Hold Me" - 3:19 written by JT Dally, Andy Smith, Brian Lee, Chad Howat and John Heiner
8. "Reason to Believe" - 4:35 written by Jaci Velasquez, Brad Jacoby and Martin Terefe
9. "Supernatural" - 3:31 written by Jaci Velasquez, Darren Potuck, Martin Terefe and Nick Whitecross
10. "This Love" - 4:09 written by Jaci velasquez and Martin Terefe

 

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