Reviewed by Paul Keeble

I came to this album by a Sri Lankan Pastor with a certain unease which increased with the sleevenote assertion "I can assure you that each song is a 'heavenly song', a song desired by Heaven to be sung on earth. . ." The first song is the slow country-ish "Prayer Answering God", complete with spoken bit quoting Bible verses and coming in at over six and a half minutes. This speaking of verses, sometimes with exhortations such as "Say yes to Jesus" ("I Say Yes") occurs in several songs. "Your Name" is a tribute to the arranger's art. With a lyric mostly following the three line pattern "Your name is X (repeat)/In my Y" and a simple tune that repeats every 13 seconds, the song lasts for over eights minutes. Dylan it is not. "Jesus You Are" repeats "you are" phrases for nearly seven minutes, broken only by a nice violin solo about halfway through, like services on a motorway. Towards the end another language intersperses, which I don't think is Sri Lankan. This also occurs in "God Will Not Fail Me". Most of these in essence simple songs musically and lyrically are over six minutes long, but there is an improvement towards the end in "If Any Man Is Thirsty" and "Romans 4:25" in that they are significantly shorter and more effective for it. Maybe some editing of the longer songs would have a similar benefit? The album closes with instrumental versions of "Jesus You Are" and "I Say Yes". Throughout the album, the production is crisp, vocals and harmonies well-arranged and sung and the playing of the violinist and guitarist first-rate. There are no other instrumental credits, so if this is a programming job, it is a good one. Some of the melodies are quite catchy, eg, "You Are My Life", but the lyrics, while I cannot disagree with any of the sentiments expressed, are all of a personal devotional or exhortational nature. Nothing wrong with that, but I can't help thinking that, if we are going to compare with the Psalms, many themes and emotions expressed there are absent here (and, let's face it, in most modern worship songs) - lament, justice/injustice, anger, questioning, doubt to name but a few. And then there's the poetry and imagery of the Psalms, but I won't go there. I am in no way questioning the sincerity and obvious devotion expressed here. I am wary however of making such high claims for the inspiration of the songs.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.