Reviewed by Mark Lawrence

Singer/songwriter and former bass player with the Newsboys Phil Joel follows up his 'Deliberate People' album with 'Deliberate Kids', a collection of songs written by his wife Heather and Phil himself and aimed at getting children worshipping. The album begins with a bang with the up-tempo pop-rock of "Good Morning" and continues with the hook-laden "A Plan" which is based around Psalm 139. The whole album, in fact, is excellent. Phil has crafted songs that are infectious, have good tunes and, importantly in children's songs, contain culturally relevant lyrics that teach strong biblical truths and Christian principles, such as on the excellent "I Can Pray" which is an exploration of the Lord's Prayer, and the riff-laden "Know You Better" which proclaims the truth that is contained in the Bible. Whereas a lot of children's worship music is undeniably cheesy, Phil has written songs with a rocky edge that don't sound too dissimilar to the feel good pop-rock of McFly or Avril Lavigne. Phil and wife Heather have road-tested these songs in their children's work in their home church and if you are looking for fresh new songs to use in your own children's programmes then I would suggest you start right here!

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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