Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Rootsy flavoured worship with plenty of acoustic guitars, mandolins, fiddles and lighter percussive instruments combine with a small vocal group (a small cloud of witnesses?) to present some rather pleasant worship choruses.  Original songs rub shoulders with some old favourites - "And Can It Be", "There Is A Fountain" and not one but two versions of "Amazing Grace"!  The instrumental "Amazing Grace" was completely compelling and totally lovely, performed as it was on acoustic guitar but the vocal one with the whole choir only served to help me identify what is was about this album that troubled me.  The group vocals.  They aren't out of tune, it's just the songs seem too cluttered with a group vocal sound.  Where it is stripped away, the album has more room to breathe and benefits.  The two songs which featured a solo vocal are incredibly beautiful!  "The King Of Love" is a folky delight and "Psalm 139" has a slight Celtic feel which adds to its charm.  Elsewhere though a lot of these songs would have benefited from the dispersing of the crowded cloud of witnesses into a pair!  "Jesu", the solo closing guitar piece from Stephen Barnes, only serves to highlight what a fine instrumentalist he is and that his is a well produced project tainted by the group vocals.

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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