Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

If you don't know your Christian music history, New Zealand's David and Dale Garratt were in the 1960s pioneers of modern worship with their series of Scripture In Song albums. In 2019 has come this surprise release. Not only are the Garratts, now in their 80s, still with us but have linked up with the band Ministry Of Tone and with a raft of guest vocalists including Roland Williams, Cindy Ruakere, Aaron Hardy and TJ Taotua to deliver a commemoration of half a century of songs with fresh recordings to highlight the wealth of material that the husband and wife time have curated over the years. Captured live in the studio over two weekends of worship with a dash of additional recording, there is an incredibly immediate and intimate feel about proceedings and this, along with the sheer melodic, spiritual and scriptural depth of the songs, makes for a very special listening experience. Dale herself gives arguably this collection's most poignant and honest vocal performance on "If My People" before being joined by a multitude of backing singers to press home the sense of community worship that the album purveys. In this day and age, the marketplace is flooded with worship releases and it's easy to forget what an impact Scripture In Song had on church music back in leaner times with well-known choruses such as "Majesty", the title track and "I Stand In Awe" truly standing the test of time as evidenced on a milestone recording that is - as the latter track goes - beautiful beyond description.

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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