Israel Houghton, Michael W Smith, Martin Smith and others record for new charity

A RECORDING took place in Abbey Road studios in February, organised by Compassionart, the charity founded by Delirious?'s frontman Martin Smith. Several songs were recorded, written collectively at a retreat in January by a team of internationally recognised songwriters including Paul Baloche, Israel Houghton, Graham Kendrick, Michael W Smith and Martin Smith and Stu G of Delirious?. The tracks will be released on a Compassionart album, to be issued in late autumn. Although not able to attend the songwriter's retreat, American worship leader Chris Tomlin contributed to one of the songs written and joined the others at the Abbey Road recording. The song "So Great", written and sung by Israel Houghton and Michael W Smith, will be released in April on the popular Wow Hits series.

Said Martin Smith, "There are two amazing forces that exist in the world: Compassion for those in need and Art that helps us see beyond ourselves. What could happen if you brought the two together? What could happen if you gathered some of the top songwriters in our scene to bring their art to the table for the sole reason of raising money for the poorest of the poor? Well I can tell you, it was amazing! 'So Great' is taken from the forthcoming Compassionart record and I hope it gives you a taste of what's to come."