Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

This is the first recording Anna Blunt released in 2013 under the banner of Somerset's Nigel and Rowena Steady's Cherith Music (the second followed in 2014). The premise of the CD is as a collection of songs that have gone down well when Anna was singing in services at church. The selection is largely of more hymn-style songs, hence a number of Stuart Townend classics such as "How Deep The Father's Love", refreshed traditional hymns such as "Before The Throne Of God Above", along with a couple of Bryn/Sally Howarth songs, including the poignant "What Kind Of Love Is This?". The problem is, these great songs are rather spoiled. On one hand Anna's voice sounds pleasant enough but her intonation is highly inconsistent, with much inaccurate pitching and a general lack of finesse. Production is obviously on a budget and, on the whole, sounds pretty flat except for the flute and piano. On tracks that have drums, the drums/percussion programming is really wooden and the vocal just doesn't seem to flow with it - not a hint of "grooving" happening. Recordings can be so much more unforgiving than a live worship environment where you sing once and it's gone. Hopefully since this was released Anna has worked at her vocal control and intonation, but I can't seriously recommend this CD.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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