Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Val Goldsack, a member of the RC diocese of Middlesborough, has produced this wonderful CD of piano, harp and vocals which also works as a brilliant liturgical accompaniment. Most of the tracks are taken from the Psalms or key anthems and are accompanied by Val's wonderful alto voice, both haunting and yet clear in its intonation. Most of the material (bar a reworking of a Newman hymn) is original and shows not just theological but anthropological awareness (the setting of the Benedictus to a Hebrew-esque theme illustrates musically an understanding of the role of the original singer - Paul Wilber watch this space). The Psalms chosen to record are some of the most pastorally (and liturgically) useful, making this more than just an exercise in music creation but rather a truly ministerially aware CD. And I always thought that Matt Brouwer's "Water" from the 'Imagerical' album was the definitive treatment of Psalm 62, until I heard Val's "For You My Soul Is Thirsting". For those wanting to recreate the music in their own church, an accompanying music book just about wraps up the whole presentation. On top of that, all the royalties go to mission work in Kenya - someone's been listening to Steve Camp. The ultimate compliment I guess is that having listened to it through once, I started again from the beginning. That doesn't happen very often with my large CD collection I can tell you.

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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