Reviewed by Steve Best

A cursory glance at the sleeve shows a bunch of black leather-clad musos, so you'd be forgiven for expecting no-holds-barred, no-nonsense rawk. But no! Opener "Gloria" starts with a classical piano flourish before settling into what can only be described as symphonic pop rock. Lead vocalist and pianist Mathilda Rojdemo has an amazing classical contralto voice, but the mix of pseudo-classic pop and more regular power ballad approach with liberal strings, Hammond organ and not forgetting some top notch electric guitar touches totally works. "Spread Your Wings" is a classic power ballad, "Junglesong" is the kind of African ditty that only a Swedish band could get away with - and they do. What's weird is that although all this sounds as if it should be pretty awful, it is in fact exactly the opposite; quite brilliant - and I don't really know why, it just works! Okay, maybe the lyrics aren't the most profound in history, but the arrangements are superb, the playing flawless. Just try not to move your feet to the '70s disco feel of "Open A Door" and the similarly retro sounding "Looking For My Jesus". Heck, even the four songs which come towards the end of the album being entirely written and sung in Swedish doesn't stop me absolutely LOVING this. What a discovery!

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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