Reviewed by Nigel Bayley

Scintillate are a South African rock band which was originally put together temporarily for a ministry tour and ended up reforming for a festival and deciding to take it further. 'Sleeper' is their debut album and it's a collection of diverse rock songs, from the grungy Nirvana-like opener right through to the delicate but no less impressive closing track. In between, the band excel in strong pounding rock, with the title track particularly powerful and impressive. Some of the songs build beautifully; my favourite "Superman" and the also excellent "Fade Away" are fine examples of this. The sound is clear yet not clean; their music has a definite edge to it and this has been captured really well. The lyrics speak openly of the band's faith and they share plenty of their personal joys and struggles of the Christian life, and always with a desire to help and encourage. In "Close Enough" for example, frontman Henri Stander writes, "My life is a waste when I'm not completely into you" and by opening themselves up they are able to be challenging without ever being preachy. 'Sleeper' is a very impressive first effort from a band who clearly have plenty of talent and could have a big future.

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