Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

This 2014 release from experienced Lemington Spa singer/songwriter Phil Overton seeks to raise awareness for Morning Star Ministries - a charity based in India working to reverse the tradition of denying young girls an education and forcing them into arranged marriages. For this collection of faith-themed songs, Overton has written and performed music to accompany the lyrics of Morning Star student Roopa Kishor and this collaborative approach works well. Overton works hard to offer up a varied musical backdrop to Kishor's heartfelt and straightforward words with each track sounding different to the other. There is an overriding '80s CCM feel to proceedings with the likes of the piano-led title track sounding like one of those cherished but dated choruses that your church still occasionally sings whilst the cod rock 'n' roll of "He Made Me" and "Oh, I Will Sing For Jesus" are fun but undeniably cheesy. Nonetheless, the outmoded production standards and Overton's non-fussy vocals provide a certain charm to an album that has its heart completely in the right place. Tagged onto the end, only the instrumental "Morning Star" has any flavour of indigenous sounds and the lack of Indian instruments and rhythms on the rest of this enjoyable enough album feels like something of a missed opportunity.

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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