Reviewed by Paddy Hudspith

New Song Café arrives for kick off under the respected Worship Together banner. An impressive line up of producers (John Hartley and Derald Daugherty) and performers (vocalists including Daugherty, Rita Springer and Brian Houston, musicians like Chris Donahue and Phil Madeira) take the field, hoping to slot home the titular 20. The team sheet raises expectations and the results generally do not disappoint. Comparisons with the excellent 'City On A Hill' series could be made, especially as Daugherty was a playmaker there also. The title is a game of two halves though; the players could have pushed the 'café' angle further up the park, with a few more acoustic, coffeehouse-cool touches to emphasize the intended (I think) result. A blunder midway through the first half (a pointless, sub-Delirious? attempt at Smith & Garrard's "Everything" goes well wide) proves to be a rare jitter. I choked on my half-time pie at the "new song" tag, however. A few recent wonderkids are on show but, as ever with these compilations, there's far too much reliance on old pros like "Better Is One Day" and "Lord You Have My Heart". The latter even appears without full kit, missing one whole line ("Jesus, take my life and lead me on.") Do I not like that! Standards were high enough to prevent me walking out early, but by the final whistle I was left pondering the musical equivalent of a predictable one-nil win for the boys (and girls). Good on their day, but not championship-winning form.

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