When it comes to urban gospel superstars Mary Mary, everything is done on a big scale. All of their pursuits—musical, spiritual, or otherwise—are larger-than-life: not a single thing is left to chance. For them, there’s simply no room for halfway, half-done, half-baked efforts. No matter the venture, the bar is always sky-high. Absolutely everything must be handled with an utmost sense of excellence.
This commitment to greatness isn’t novel for them. As far back as their breakout, career-defining first single, “Shackles (Praise You)” in 2000, Mary Mary have time and again gone for broke. Their landmark fifth album for Columbia Records, THE SOUND, is no different. Hands down, the project is their boldest, most complete work yet—a remarkable milestone in their now decade-long trajectory in music.
“We represent a great, big God who is excellent, so we like to think that our work represents that, too,” says Tina Campbell, one-half of the best-selling duo. “God’s blessings are new every day. He’s blowing our minds every day. We should be able to speak to a new day in a new way.” Her sister Erica Campbell can’t help but concur: “I wholeheartedly agree,” she says.
With nothing to prove, Mary Mary could very well rest on past successes and settle for the middle-of-the-road. After all, they are Grammy, Dove, Stellar, MOBO, and American Music Award winners, and all of their studio albums—2000’s Thankful, 2002’s Incredible, and 2005’s Mary Mary—are either platinum- or gold-certified. But independent of older glories, THE SOUND proves they go it all out, all the time.
“We consider ourselves to be unpredictable,” Tina says. “We like to think that we’re innovative and original so you cannot figure out what our next move is and you can’t really define our ability or what you think the expectations are.”
That’s putting it mildly. From top to bottom, THE SOUND sees the tandem stretching their wings into realms rarely explored in music, for a celebration of sound that nearly defies categorization. Assisted by longtime producer Warryn Campbell, the disc melds the twosome’s love of truth-grounded gospel music, yet swathed in a colorful patchwork of R&B, pop, soul, jazz, electronic music, and then some.
There’s no better preamble for THE SOUND’s genre-bending dynamics than lead single “Get Up,” a song unlike anything on the airwaves in 2008, mainstream or gospel. “That song embodies what the whole album is about,” Erica says. “It asks people, ‘Why are you waiting? Why do you care what other people think?’ It reminds us that your beginning can be whenever you want it to be.”
Following ethereal, hypnotic verses with soft, near-whispered vocals, “Get Up” explodes into a praise party dominated by horns, beats-per-minute, and an empowering lyric: “Get up, ‘cause you can’t stop / Get up, gotta lot to do … What are you afraid of? Don’t you know what you’re made of?” By the time the song hits the rhythmic vamp, Mary Mary have already shattered all preconceived notions about their craft.
More mind-blowing still is the album’s title track, a psychedelic, synth-driven retro piece that seems lifted from a ‘60s spy film. The song is perhaps the wildest Mary Mary has ever committed to tape, but it’s not a vanity number: it was created in hopes it will touch someone who doesn’t normally listen to faith-based music—a big part of Erica and Tina’s ministry.
“There’s always someone who has music that will reach an unchurched audience,” Erica says. “That’s definitely the position Mary Mary holds. Growing up, we didn’t look at people who didn’t go to church any differently from those who did. When it comes to our music, our music is for everyone. Everyone needs to know that God loves them.”
Tailor-made for both the streets and the sanctuary, songs like “Dirt” ably wrap a timeless message into a tune that could apply to individuals on either side of the spiritual divide. “We all need a little bit of dirt to grow,” the pair sings in this thought-provoking number, a guitar-laced composition that rides a smooth, mid-tempo groove.
As expected, THE SOUND shows Mary Mary can have church, too. Not ones to shy away from in-your-face declarations of faith, the girls are now more intentional than ever about Whom they adore, without for a moment compromising their call to innovation and growth. The introspective “Seattle” is a prime example, a pensive prayer that asks the Lord to descend upon the soul the same way rain falls on the Emerald City.
Equally worshipful is the slightly odd-metered “I’m Running,” a breezy tune punctuated by lightly strummed electric guitar and an insistent snare-kick pattern. The song, which describes a heart who longs to draw ever so close to the heart of God, contains a brilliant nod to the worship classic “As the Deer”—yet another indication of Mary Mary’s desire to give praise where praise is due.
In the vein of Mary Mary standards “Can’t Give Up Now” and “Yesterday,” a couple of ballads on THE SOUND stand out for their passionate delivery: “I Trust You” (feat. Marvin Winans) and “I Worship You” are easily the sonic and spiritual plateaus of the album. Both sisters consider them highlights of the record—two ballads with an immense potential for the Kingdom.
“God knows all,” Tina says of “I Trust You.” “When you have lost control and you have no information in your little head and you’re just confused, blind and don’t know which way is up, God knows. He has your life, your future, your family, your career…he has it in control. He has you at heart. He has you in mind. You’re in good hands.”
That’s a message the Campbell family knows all too well. In April, Erica’s husband and Mary Mary’s producer-in-residence, Warryn Campbell, was diagnosed with a form of kidney cancer that called for immediate surgery. Under similar circumstances, someone else’s faith could’ve been rocked to the core, but not Erica’s: not once did the singer or her kin doubt that Warryn would make a full recovery, which he did.
“Everybody’s absolutely fantastic,” says a resolute Erica when asked about how she and her loved ones are doing. “We’re a family of strong faith. We know that Whom we love and serve is capable of taking care of us. There were moments where we shed a tear or two, but what’s greater than that was God’s ability to take care of us.”
Beyond the music, THE SOUND also marks the launching point for a new phase in the sisters’ career. In addition to it, the singers hope to continue to expand the Mary Mary brand to territories once uncharted for the duo, into areas such as a bath and beauty line, a designer t-shirt collection, children’s books and music, interactive computer games, stage work, television, and much more.
Of these projects, perhaps the one they’re the most excited about is BE U—a bath, body, and candle line whose purpose isn’t to only encourage external beauty, but also to foster inner splendor, honesty, and integrity.
“We don’t want to limit ourselves to just singing,” Tina says. “All the gifts and all the talents and all the great entrepreneurial ideas that God has given us, we want to use them.”
She continues: “I don’t care if you’re making a statement in fashion, doing movies that reflect who you are, whatever it is that you decide to do outside of just one thing—if God has gifted you, you should do it all to bring Him glory.”
