Reviewed by Ruth Saint

Sebastian Demrey and Jimmy Lahaie are a Canadian duo who are about to tour the UK. They have previously released three albums in French dedicated to the heritage of hymns of the past centuries. As a number of the hymns included on their releases were originally written in English they felt the time was right to release an English version. This album therefore covers classics such as "Nearer My God To Thee", "What A Friend We Have In Jesus", "Count Your Blessings" and "The Old Rugged Cross". Although these particular worship songs may appeal more to an older generation they are sung here in an acoustic style (not a church organ to be heard anywhere) and will appeal to all ages. The songs are performed very ably by Demrey on vocals and Lahaie on acoustic, electric guitar and mandolin. Some tracks are piano led and cellist Carla Antoun also guests. Genevieve Falleur sings with Sebastian on "Just As I Am". "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" is cheerful and quick paced with a guitar solo by Jimmy midway. The singing style on this track has echoes of Brian Houston. "Blessed Assurance" is a song that is easy to gently sing along with as are most of the tracks. "My Jesus I Love Thee" is the only instrumental piece and showcases Jimmy's acoustic guitar skills. An excellent set of old favourites which are clearly loved by Sebastian and Jimmy.

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