Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

The pastor, Bible teacher and author veteran releases a fresh set of studio songs backed by some of his old mates. So he teams with drummer Henry Spinetti and guitarists Bryn Haworth and Norman Barratt to create an album that is filled with warm vibey music. Worshipful and prophetic, some of these tracks spread out into lengthy gentle workouts, drifting into worship. The best track on this album is "The Lord Is The Stronghold", built around some wonderful jazzy guitar complete with an extended solo. Vocally Dave Markee is developing a Clapton-style voice somewhere between singing and croaking and it works really well. My other favourite is "The Mighty Blood", complete with gospelly backing vocals and another huge chilled out bluesy vibe. Larry Norman makes a guest appearance on "Holy Lord" adding a response vocal to Markee's call and it makes for a spine tingling moment. Elsewhere "Lead Us To The Lost" and "Real With You" are a little weak and show up Markee's vocal deficiencies while "Armed And Dangerous" wanders about too much searching for a hook and compared to other stuff here, it feels a little too ordinary. There is much to enjoy here if you like gentle blues-tinged playing and songs that are prophetic and worshipful.

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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