Jesus Culture member Kristene DiMarco makes her sophomore solo album, Safe Place, an intimate affair that speaks eloquently in soft but powerful tones. In contrast to her group's arena-sized sound, DiMarco favors a small-scale acoustic approach that showcases her breathy, slightly plaintive vocals. As a songwriter, she shows a knack for simple yet vivid lyric expression, as well as buoyant folk-slanted melodies. The bittersweet bounce of tracks like “Say Goodbye” (a fervent expression of Christian commitment) and “Paint Me a Picture” (celebrating the spirit of creation in both God and man) invites comparisons to the likes of Sara Groves and Leigh Nash, while “Limitless” moves to a moody shuffle akin to modern britpop. Her take on worship music (as shown in the lovely “Awaken”) strips away grandiose language in favor of a humble declaration of need. DiMarco combines musical accessibility with a way of capturing Biblical themes in fresh ways, as “A Lonely Carpenter” shows. The title track's childlike reverence presents DiMarco at her most vulnerable.