Reviewed by Doug Holland

The International Staff Songsters of the Salvation Army were formed in 1980 and they travel throughout the UK and indeed the world singing at and leading services and other religious events. Comprising entirely volunteers from the Army Corps nationwide they are no strangers to the recording studio, and their latest offering is a 17-track, 75-minute collection of choral interpretations of old and new worship songs. It is primarily the Songsters and a piano we hear, but gentle percussion and an electric bass are woven sensitively into a number of the tracks. After a steady start greater variation in tempo is evident in the second half of the collection, and it benefits from this. The album title derives from a line of one of the two John Rutter songs included, "Distant Land", and it is this type of meditational composition that the Songsters pull off best; the phrasing and language of some of the other works included simply does not seem, despite their best efforts, to translate into choir-speak (for instance, "Let Me Fly With You"). On the whole this is a CD for those times when we are in a fairly good place and we wish not to be moved (in either direction). Being pleasing without being electrifying and encouraging without in any way challenging, it is a good easy listen.

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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