STYLE: Ambient/Meditational RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 79174-15377 LABEL: Independent FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Peter Dilley
Its title hints at a tight recording schedule, and that's indeed the case - German singer/songwriter Samuel Harfst and three associates put together 12 songs in three days and two nights. Whether it sounds like a rush job is a different question: it's neither overproduced, nor ragged like many low budget ventures, so their efforts must have been well-focused. Samuel gives the lead on vocals (in English) and acoustic guitar, whilst Dominik Schweiger, Dirk Menger and David Harfst add subtle richness and colour to the sound on cellos, piano, Fender Rhodes and percussion. This all comes together particularly well on their rehash of "Amazing Grace", where Samuel's impressive vocal range is put to very good use. Opener "Break Free" talks powerfully of the value of having dreams in your life, and it's balanced by "My Only Hope" which talks of finding "the peace that the world cannot live." "Morning's Wings" is almost like a spoken meditation set to music - ponderous, but strangely effective. Worship song "Glorious" is the first of two songs which use the Biblical idiom of an "undivided heart", and a final gem is "Your Kingdom Come" - never an easy challenge to do something fresh with the words of the Lord's Prayer. Vocally, Samuel is occasionally reminiscent of Martin Smith in pensive mode, but the overall delivery is quite different. Challenging, but uplifting chill-out sounds anyone?
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