Make It Right

This fan-funded project makes good on the promise of Abel’s earlier releases with tracks that combine propulsive pop melodies with blistering punk-influenced guitar attacks. Singer Kevin Kneifel brings a visceral edge to his performances, shifting between mouth-frothing defiance and enraptured contemplation. Sonically, the tunes display a keen sense of focus and dynamics, as well as primal energy. Abel veers from ferocity to introspection and back again on tracks like “I’ll Be Waiting” and “Fine Lines” as they search for answers to tough spiritual questions. There’s a palpable sense of temptation and suffering, as well as desperate need: “Fire Walk with Me,” for instance, confronts carnality and hypocrisy, while “Daughter” dissects family issues with a razor-sharp scalpel. Abel matches the volatility of its lyrics with an expansive musical vision that concludes with the atmospheric “Comfort and Truth,” which evokes God’s all-embracing majesty. Make It Right avoids typical Christian pop/rock clichés in favor of harder truths, making the album’s ultimate message of redemption resonate all the more eloquently.