Reviewed by Jonathan Evans

Mmmmh, nice, this one! There's a strong theme running through many of the songs, mostly to do with God's love. The songs are very personal, mainly about the believer's relationship with God and you get the feeling that here is someone who has experienced God's love and faithfulness through some tough times. Lyrically, it doesn't say anything particularly new and you might say that there are too many familiar images and phrases, but there is no doubting the depth of feeling in the words. Since much secular pop music is on the same themes of love and relationship, it highlights the problem that the Christian artist has in discovering distinctive ways of expressing our love relationship with God. Musically, it is excellent, and if soul is your kind of music get out and listen to it. Although comparisons aren't always a good idea, they can help if you're not familiar with an artist. On the softer ballads, Jeffrey Smith's voice can be smooth (Lionel Ritchie/Michael McDonald-like), but there's a rough edge reminiscent of Bryan Adams on some of the more gutsy tracks. ("Love Someone" is an excellent bluesy example). One of the recurrent problems for a Christian artist is that the quality of the songs is often a big let down on an album that is otherwise excellent. But in this case Jeffrey and company have turned out a pretty good selection of tunes. Give it a try.

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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