The fantastic Darwin Hobbs returns for his third album, Broken, and whether he's bobbing your head in time with righteous r&b grooves or pouring truckloads of soul into some truly beautiful ballads, Broken demonstrates why this man is becoming one of the most talked-about vocalists in urban gospel music.

His most compelling songs are usually the ones where he addresses some aspect of God, such as the high energy track "Unexplainable," in which he says there are no words in any human language to truly do justice to God's greatness. "Against the World" is where he declares that sometimes it feels like it's just him and God up against the rest of the world, but he doesn't mind. He addresses the fullness of the trinity on the lovely "You Are God." And there are also the requisite tracks that make you want to jump up off your feet and celebrate, like "Thank You" and "Praz Him."

There's a greater amount of upbeat tracks than ballads, so even though it's not quite evenly balanced, I don't think most listeners will mind. He's just as great at one as the other. Broken marks another home run from a gifted artist.

- Robin Parrish