Reviewed by George Luke

I'll just cut to the chase: this album is brilliant! Rehoboth are a UK-based Congolese gospel group whose sound is rooted in their country's most popular export, soukous music. The late John Peel loved soukous so much he declared that Diblo Dibala (one of the genre's biggest acts) was the best guitarist in the world. If you're into African music, you've probably discovered the joys of soukous already. If not, get this album and see what you've been missing. Those of you with better French than me (ie, most of you - my French is rubbish right now) will have worked out that the album's title translates as "we lift up Jesus", and for the most part, it's made up of lively praise songs - including, in a rare ballad moment, a French rendition of "Hosanna In The Highest". I've always felt that the 'animation' (MC-ing) that's such an integral part of soukous music would be an ideal vehicle for leading a crowd in lively, boisterous worship; I'm doubly convinced of that now that I've heard it done in a gospel context. Some of the tracks are a bit on the lengthy side ("Elanga" is a whopping 10 minutes 52 seconds!), but that's just part of the fun. Having sung in both Lingala and French throughout the album, the guys stretch their linguistic skills even further on the final track ("L'Amour de Dieu") by adding Spanish into the mix. I've said it before and I'll say it again: this album is brilliant. There is one thing bothering me, though. There are five blokes in the picture on the front of the CD, four on the back and eight when you open the case. Exactly how many people are in this band?

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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