Lou Fellingham - Promised Land

Published Thursday 10th April 2008
Lou Fellingham - Promised Land
Lou Fellingham - Promised Land

STYLE: Pop
RATING 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 45411-14067
LABEL: Kingsway KMCD2853
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RELEASE DATE: 2008-05-07
RRP: £4.99

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Taking the lead singer of one of Britain's best loved bands, encouraging her and husband to write sharp, Scripture-focussed worship songs, flying her out to Los Angeles and surrounding her with a bevy of top line musicians was, no doubt, was the strategy to see this soar up the Christian music charts. The fact that the Phatfish singer not only follows up her big selling 'Treasure' album with a project that is, to my ears, even better says much for the singing talent and compositional skill of Lou. The songs are powerful, with the chugging rock rhythmed title track, the haunting acoustic-driven "God Immortal" and the bluesy "Breathe" (complete with tasty Hammond organ interjections) all possessing words and melodies that sound like they have that elusive something that could impact the worshipping churches. But whatever the congregational worship future of the 10 strong compositions here, one thing is already clear, this is an album which will bless and enrich all those wise enough to invest in its purchase. I can hardly wait to get 'Promised Land' into the Cummings car stereo. My absolute favourite track is "Come Let Us Enter" where Lou shows an unexpected upper register to her voice on the anthemic chorus which has the same goose-bump inducing effect that Rebecca St James sometimes induces in her listeners. Lou is a national Christian music treasure with a voice that has matured down the years from its acid jazz origins to sound as convincing on full-on power rockers as it is when purring wistful Celtic-tinged ballads. And with a heart clearly overflowing with love for the King of Kings Lou has produced the best work of her long and fruitful ministry.

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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Reader Comments

Posted by Rebecca in London @ 11:34 on Jun 5 2008

All I can say about this album is BUY IT!!! I pre-ordered it and was not disappointed when it finally arrived. My favourite songs are 'Mercy from the throne', 'Christ crucified' and 'This is my worship...and I am waiting impatiently for the sheet music to become available so that we can start using them in my church!



Posted by Kim in Brighton @ 18:05 on May 27 2008

A hardened music critic am I, yet I really like this album. Perhaps I am biased (I am a friend of Lou's), but even so: the songs, as always, are rich in melody and varied in style and form. The lyrics are excellently written and can be heard time and time again with little obvious repetition, and new meaning becomes clear with every listen. I particularly like the way that the album begins with such an anthemic song (Promised Land) because this immediately lifts the spirits. A favourite of mine is In You, a quieter and more moody song that speaks of trusting completely in God, with very good use of arrangement to convey meaning and emotion. The songs all boast great introductions and good endings, a rare thing in modern worship (or should I say most worship?!).

On the down side, I know that Lou is performing the album with excellent musicians, but I think that I've heard better collaborations of musicians. However, this does not degrade from the album's quality and although the familiarity amongst band members is perhaps missing a little, it is not hard for the listener to become familiar with the catchy songs and meaningful lyrics that hit the mark every time.

As always, Lou's vocals are spot on and I love the way she's unafraid to use the top end of her range to its full potential. This is one thing that keeps her songs especially interesting - the range. But the tone quality doesn't decrease, nor does the expression, despite singing so high.

All in all, a great album that will certainly stay on my shelf for many years to come. Love you Lou!



Posted by Michael in Newcastle upon Tyne @ 10:31 on Apr 13 2008

I have pre-ordered this CD and listened to full previews and it sounds pretty awesome. Soaring worship with Come Let Us Enter, as Tony Cummings rightly puts chugging rock driven ballads like Promised Land and Restoration Song and some haunting vocals on Christ Crucified and In You, two tracks that build to a resonating finish. The sweeping electric guitars on this album really gives it an edge over the slightly more mellow Treasure, which was brilliant and a fantastic debut, but Promised Land is a proper follow up. Beefy, compositionally brilliant, biblically truthful with Lou's world class vocals brooding over the top of some brilliant playing by the band. Looking forward to my hard copy, and to seeing Mrs Fellingham live later this year!



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