Reviewed by Andrew Rolfe

Men of Standard have returned from a two-year break and are a fresh flurry of harmonising voices: tight, well-polished and rich in texture. Following on from three successful albums, MOS set a new high standard for the competition. The four Men provide most of the soulful, bluesy, contemporary gospel voice this album hinges upon but are joined by a whole raft of talented and individually acclaimed musicians and artists that provide everything from a horn section to up-tempo drums, acoustic and electric guitar. The instrumentation is awesome: if the players were a hotel they'd be in the 5 star variety. A sweet, rhythmic acoustic "Lord Of All" is just perfect,a great blend of Seal-esque voice, strings, finger-plucked guitar and piano. "New Day" is a big song featuring everything from wah wah peddles to grungey rap that´ll keep you coming back for more. "Philippians 4:7" is a sermon on God's prophecies being sure, encouraging us to just relax and accept his peace. It sums up the direction of the album: Jesus music wrapped up in gospel packaging. "I Made It" features the shouty singing of one or two words over a background of choral voices, with the lead singer going on a bit too long about how he was in poverty but then somehow he made it. Some chorus sections tend to do that, leaving you gasping for breath and glad you made it to the end of the track. But this fits with the gospel worship style with songs lasting even longer than the biggest 19th century hymns. "Soldiers Heart" is my favourite, a musically moving tribute to young men and women at war which reminiscent of Puff Daddy's tribute to a lost friend. We finish off with "Testify", which has a fun feel to it and resembles something from the yesteryear of James Brown. The Men have been a group for about 8 years and it shows. They harmonise flawlessly and provide an exciting delivery of varied flavours of style, sound and tempo.

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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