Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Really a songwriter's demo rather than an artist's release, for Catherine is a composer/keyboard player and leaves the vocalising to the always reliable Phil Goss and, on the second and third songs, the seriously underrated Nancy Sawyer. "Masterplan" is a funky, pop groove number, not dissimilar to the kind of things Phil's As If... band might record, though the top line melody is a tad repetitive. "With Thanks" is a rather haunting jazz-tinged ballad, with Nancy purring a sub-"Summertime"-type "secular" song with even a snatch of clarinet from Catherine, and "Paint A Rainbow", a song about the recent death of Catherine's father, is a pretty pop number with probably the strongest hook. A seriously cheesy sleeve doesn't help the project, and anyway, with British Christian music publishers in the UK doing little or nothing to encourage new songwriting talent, it's rather hard to see the purpose of this EP.

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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