Jump5's down a member since the 2003 departure of Libby Hodges. But
Brittany Hargest, Brandon Hargest, Lesley Moore, and Chris Fedun are transitioning nicely from happy-go-lucky teen music to professionally produced, faith-based dance-pop, and this set offers a look back as you wait for their next move. Fans can revisit the high-pitched sugar high of 2001's "Spinnin' Around" and the aerobic worship song "Throw Your Hands Up" from 2002's All the Time in the World. But there's also new material here, a reserved cover of
Michael W. Smith's "Friends" as well as "Don't Run Away" and "Beautiful to Me," two more dance-pop CCM anthems in the vein of 2004's
Dreaming in Color.
Very Best skips over that album's irresistible "In My Heart," but it includes "Dance with Me" and "It's a Beautiful World."
Accelerate, meanwhile, is represented by "We Are Family" and the goofy self-deprecation of "Do Ya." The collection excludes
Jump's versions of "Freeze Frame" and "Walking on Sunshine," which probably both deserved to be here. But it does include an earnest, if somewhat stilted cover of
Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."
Very Best of Jump5 is nowhere near comprehensive, and in fact repeats what's already been released numerous times on remixes, singles, albums, and soundtracks. But it still gets away with being bright, buoyant, and relentlessly delightful, mostly because
Brittany, Lesley, Brandon, and Chris sing from inside a shiny and impenetrable bubble of positivity. No one can be this happy all the time, this ready to dance and jump around. Or can they? Ain't no stopping them now;
Jump5's on the move. ~ Johnny Loftus