Reviewed by Tom Lennie Often, albums headed “new songs” are a bit of a misnomer, containing worship favourites that many churches have been singing for months! Although dates of composition are not given for any of these dozen tunes, it would appear that they are indeed very recent. I personally had previous awareness of only one or two, and that only in the last few months. So we've got newies from Mr Redman - "Welcomed In To The Courts Of The King (Facedown)", also the theme of his new book - two from Irish worship leader Ian Hannah and a modern hymn co-penned by Keith Getty. Darlene Zschech's "You Are Righteous (My Hope)" also finds place here, so too, unusually, a Christmas carol written by Bryn Haworth! My favourite, though, is the closing "I Have Seen A Mystery (It Is The Church)" - the most vibrant and memorable on the album - composed by little-known but prolific Lex Loizides. The downside to the disc, not surprisingly, is that none of the songwriters feature here - but rather, faceless, nameless session singers backed by sparse and rather distasteful programming - although the silky male lead vocals have their own certain appeal (not Mr Goodall, Lyle-Morris or Barbour). Obviously this resource is aimed at worship leaders hungering for the best in new tunes; to aid them, the CD ROM includes guitar chords, piano arrangements, top line melodies and lots more. All in all, though, the effect these rather sterile renditions have on me, more than a longing to introduce them to my church, is first to hear every one passionately sung by its own writer. Now that would make a fine album!
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Sample Track Listing: |
1. |
Welcomed In To The Courts Of The King |
[Listen] |
2. |
My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness |
[Listen] |
3. |
Where Do I Go |
[Listen] |
This track data is supplied by the Cross Rhythms CD/DVD review library. Please note that CD tracks may vary
according to release region or product version. |