Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

An intriguing EP from Stuart Wood which as the title suggests is a collection of pictures painted with music. These soundscapes are designed to help you create the missing parts of the picture drawing from the music and creating your own image. Not a new concept - Iona, to some degree, have also achieved this using music and words to communicate concepts and spirituality. Stuart's work, whilst not as accomplished, does have the power to delight and provoke. For my part, I have already taken the first cut on the album "Nothing For Us" and added a pile of spoken samples to create a word and music portrait of the life of Christ for my radio show! I have found the album inspiring though definitely left field. If you're looking for something a little unusual, this is it. There's the percussive sounds of "Dry Bones" which explores the story of Ezekiel 37 and presents an instrumental musical interpretation of that story and the African rhythms and singing on "Mutendereze Mukama" which are delightful. One of the most stunning pieces is "Amnesty" which takes a reading of Psalm 51 and interprets it complete with some great Irish fiddle playing and rhythms. This is an adventurous album, creative, inventive, inspiring and totally non-commercial. Needless to say, I love it for all of those reasons!

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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